Understanding Barriers to Research Report # 1 Accessing Skills … · 2017-05-08 · Foreword This Synthesis Report of the study Understanding Barriers to Accessing Skills Development

Network for international policiesand cooperation in education and training

December 2015

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1 Understanding Barriers to Accessing Skills Development and Employment for Youth in Argentina and South Africa:Synthesis Report Peliwe LOLWANA, Siphelo NGCWANGU,

Claudia JACINTO, Verónica MILLENAAR,

María Eugenia MARTÍN

About IDES:

The IDES (Instituto de Desarrollo Economico y Social) is a private, non-profit, academic institute devoted to the study of economic, social, historical, political and cultural issues. Its activities are divided into three main areas: 1) research programmes, 2) graduate courses, and 3) the dissemination of scientific research, particularly through the social science journal Desarollo Económico. It provides a forum for academic debate and policy implication analysis, with emphasis on the problems faced by Argentina and Latin America. In 2013, it created the Centre for Social Research (CIS) which it administers jointly with the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET).

About REAL:

The Centre for Researching Education and Labour (REAL) is an established research centre in the School of Education at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. It conducts projects into important policy areas in education and training, focusing on the complex relationships between education, knowledge, work, the economy, and society. REAL brings together researchers from different disciplines, builds theoretical and systemic insights based on empirical research, improves the quality of empirical research, develops insights across different research areas, and contributes to national policy debates.

About NORRAG:

NORRAG is an independent multi-stakeholders network hosted by the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva, Switzerland, seeking to inform, challenge and influence international education and training policies and cooperation. Through networking and other forms of cooperation and institutional partnerships, it aims in particular to stimulate and disseminate timely, innovative and critical analysis and to serve as a knowledge broker at the interface between research, policy and practice. As of February 2016 NORRAG has more than 4,500 registered members in about 170 countries, with 47% from the global South. NORRAG is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Open Society Foundations and the Ministry of Higher Education of the Sultanate of Oman.

About the Collaborative Programme of Work between REAL and NORRAG:

REAL and NORRAG have established an International Collaborative Programme of Work in Education, Skills and Labour Policy. The broad purpose of the programme is the sharing and dissemination of their knowledge, research, insights and perspectives with local, regional and international stakeholders. The joint vision is to engage in the fields of knowledge creation and dissemination as well as policy dialogue on skills development, education and labour, with the aim of contributing in an informed and evidence-based manner to the South African, regional, continental and international debates on skills, education and training policies. The overall objective is to improve the quality of Technical and Vocational Education and Skills Development.

Foreword

This Synthesis Report of the study Understanding Barriers to Accessing Skills Development and Employment for Youth in Argentina and South Africa is the product of two years of work across three continents (Europe, Latin America and Africa) between three institutions: NORRAG in Switzerland, the REAL Centre at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, and PREJET at IDES in Argentina. The study brings together interdisciplinary research perspectives in order to study a critical challenge to both developing and developed countries in the world today: rising youth unemployment resulting in large numbers of young people being unable to access employment or skills development. South Africa and Argentina provide a varied context for studying barriers to youth employment and skills since both countries are faced with the challenges of pursuing social justice within difficult economic conditions. This study is organized around the notions of People, Policy and Institutions in order to explore the interconnection between these agencies while understanding Barriers. Increasingly, the problem of youth unemployment has tended to be treated as an individual problem by illustrating the ‘skills deficits’ of young people rather than taking into account the critical role of public policy and institutions that mediate access to skills training and employment. The study is grounded in two sectors – Wine and Construction. These present a useful context for understanding barriers in the light of structural factors. These two sectors demonstrate similarities in regulation but simultaneously show differences in areas such as the role of trade unions in accessing skills development. The study makes a contribution to the growing body of research on youth unemployment and access to skills development in both the academic and policy development literature. Policymakers in both countries will find the report to be a useful resource for policy development and analysis which will inform future planning within the broad arena of youth development. The study is a significant contribution to the literature on international cooperation from a ‘South–South–North’ perspective, bringing together insights that were submitted to a cross-fertilization process in which national, regional and international perspectives were called upon. The three involved organisations do hope that the study will demonstrate the innovative capacity of the South–South–North Triangular Cooperation. The full country reports are available on the NORRAG website.

Peliwe Lolwana Claudia Jacinto Michel Carton

REAL Centre IDES, PREJET NORRAGUniversity of the Witwatersrand University of Buenos Aires GenevaSouth Africa Argentina Switzerland

About the Authors

South Africa

Ms Peliwe Lolwana, Former Director of the Centre for Researching Education and Labour (REAL), University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa Email: [email protected];

Mr Siphelo Ngcwangu, Associate Researcher, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa Email: [email protected].

Argentina

Claudia Jacinto, Coordinator of PREJET (Programa de Estudios de Juventud, Educación y Trabajo) at IDES (Instituto de Desarrollo Economico y Social) and Senior Researcher at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina Email: [email protected];

Verónica Millenaar, IDES Associate Researcher Email: [email protected];

María Eugenia Martin, CONICET Fellow Researcher at the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo Email: [email protected].

PREJET team members participating in the study:

Alejandro Burgos, Delfina Garino, Eugenia Roberti, Mariana Sosa and Carolina Dursi, CONICET doctoral fellows;

Lucia D’Angelo, Research Assistant at the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo.

Acknowledgements

The REAL centre team would like to thank a number of institutions that supported this study by making themselves or their organizations available for interviews, or by providing access to information which was critical to the study. In the Wine sector we would like to acknowledge the following institutions and individuals for their support: Elsenburg College, Pinotage Youth Development Agency (PYDA), Taste of Training, Vinpro, South African Wine Industry Statistics (SAWIS), Wine Tech, Solms-Delta, South African Wine Industry Trust (SAWIT), Ms Nomonde Kubheka (wine maker and trainer), Ms Ntsiki Biyela (wine maker and trainer). In the Construction sector we would like to acknowledge the following institutions and individuals for their support: Molapo FET College, Gert Sibande College, Sol-Tech training academy, Soweto Plumbing Academy. The Education Policy Consortium (EPC) provided support for the fieldwork carried out in the two sectors. Our research team was supported by two other researchers, Mr Gift Luxomo and Mr Elliot Moleba: we are grateful to them for their inputs on data collection and transcription.

PREJET would like to thank IDES for their logistical and administrative support, and the Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica, which jointly supported our work through the project PICT 0091-2012. Many institutions allowed us to conduct interviews and gather data. At a general level and regarding policies, we thank all the public officials and authorities in the Ministries of Education, Employment and Social Development (at national level and in the four districts – the provinces of Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Neuquén, and the City of Buenos Aires) that accepted interviews and contributed key information. With regard to the Construction sector, we wish to thank the UOCRA Foundation (part of the Construction Union) for providing relevant data, and the training centres that opened their doors for the interviews. The municipality of La Matanza, especially the training centre, the education and work council and the employment agency, were important data providers. Private companies provided important information about the organization of work in the two sectors. In the Wine Production sector we were also helped by the Union of Workers and Employees of Wineries, the Mendoza Agency of Employment (reporting to the national Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security), the Rural Development Institute, and the Viticulture Development Centres.

The two teams also wish to thank each other for the warm welcome they respectively received in the other country during the workshops organized in situ, which were key elements of the partnership building.

Above all, the teams express gratitude to NORRAG for initiating, funding and supporting the study. Without its support and persistence the study would never have succeeded. NORRAG has provided us all with the opportunity to cross-fertilize knowledge, experiences and challenges within a South–South perspective enriched by its ability to understand partnership in an open-ended and constructive manner.

Finally, NORRAG also expresses its gratitude to the Argentinian and South African colleagues who have successfully achieved the ambitious goals set.

Abstract:

This synthesis is based on two national studies concerning youth transitions to work and the labour market, within the framework of the project Understanding Barriers to Accessing Skills Development and Employment for Youth in Argentina and South Africa. The studies analysed three main issues: (1) the quality of the productive activities that youngster get, such as jobs, employment, volunteering, and learnerships; (2) policies regarding work preparation and deployment, including the conceptual approaches, guidelines and designs of implementation, their similarities, and contradictions; and (3) youth opportunities in the construction and wine production sectors. Emphasis was placed on knowledge of the relationships between the various actors within society, state, non-state, public and private national and international institutions. The report presents the theoretical and methodological framework shared by both studies and then presents the two cases. In each of them: a) the context of each country is described in order to highlight the social, educational and labour backgrounds; b) youth employment at the national level and in specific sectors of the economy is analysed from a quantitative perspective; c) the policies addressing skills development and work in the national public governance system as well as in international development cooperation are identified and classified; and d) the Construction and Wine Production sectors are analysed and the strategies of implementation and performance developed by institutions and programmes that support the above policies are discussed. The study makes a crucial contribution to the national and international literature on skills and youth development by adopting a South–South–North perspective.

Keywords:

Youth employment, skills development, skills development policies, skills training, social justice, construction sector, wine production sector, Argentina, South Africa

Contents

1. Objectives and Framework of the Study ...................................................................111.1. Objectives .....................................................................................................................................................111.2. Theoretical framework ......................................................................................................................... 12

1.2.1. Work: historical, political and economic dimensions ................................................. 121.2.2. Skills and work preparation .................................................................................................. 151.2.3. A social justice dimension: education and work in the framework of social protection policies ........................................................................................................161.2.4. Comparing Argentina and South Africa? ........................................................................ 17

2. Research Questions and Methodology .................................................................... 172.1. Research questions ............................................................................................................................... 172.2. Research design ......................................................................................................................................182.3. Research methodology ......................................................................................................................18

3. South Africa ............................................................................................................... 193.1. Context .........................................................................................................................................................193.2. The Skills Development System ..................................................................................................... 21

3.2.1. Institutional and political context....................................................................................... 213.2.2. International influences on the skills development strategy .............................. 21

3.3. Youth employment................................................................................................................................ 223.3.1. Youth employment in the formal economy ................................................................... 223.3.2. Employment in the informal economy ............................................................................ 25

3.4. Policies for youth skills development and employment ...................................................263.4.1. Overview ........................................................................................................................................263.4.2. Policies for the social protection of the youth........................................................... 27

3.5. Industry sectors .....................................................................................................................................283.5.1. The wine industry ......................................................................................................................283.5.2. The construction industry ....................................................................................................28

3.6. The labour market trends of the two sectors .........................................................................283.6.1. The wine industry .......................................................................................................................283.6.2. The construction industry ....................................................................................................29

3.7. Skills development, people, policies and institutions in the wine and construction industries .............................................................................................................313.8. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................ 35

4. Argentina ................................................................................................................. 364.1. Context ........................................................................................................................................................36

4.1.1. General trends ..............................................................................................................................364.1.2. The role of international cooperation in skills development ..............................38

4.2. Youth employment and policies ....................................................................................................394.2.1. Youth employment ...................................................................................................................394.2.2. Youth policies ...............................................................................................................................414.2.3. Youth employment, youth policies and TVET in two employment sectors: construction and wine production ................................................................43

4.3. Skills development, people, policies and institutions: where is social justice? ...454.4. Conclusions .............................................................................................................................................50

5. Comparing Argentina and South Africa? ................................................................. 51

6. References ................................................................................................................ 546.1. South Africa ..............................................................................................................................................546.2. Argentina .................................................................................................................................................56

7. End Notes .................................................................................................................. 59

Annex: Research Techniques, Sources and Indicators ............................................... 59Specific objective 1: Country context .................................................................................................59Specific objective 2: Youth employment ...........................................................................................59Specific objective 3: Public policies addressing youth, education, training and employment ............................................................................. 60Specific objective 4: Sectors of activity and the networks linking education, training and work ................................................................................................61

The sectors of activity .........................................................................................................................61Institutions (in the networks linking education, training and work) ............................62

Data analysis ...................................................................................................................................................63

TablesSouth Africa

Table 1: Demographics ..............................................................................................................................19Table 2: The Economy ...............................................................................................................................20Table 3: Education ......................................................................................................................................20Table 4: Youths aged 15-34 years in the labour market ............................................................ 22Table 5: NEETs aged 15-34 years ......................................................................................................... 22Table 6: Distribution of youths aged 15-34 years old by level of education ..................24Table 7: The informal economy .............................................................................................................26Table 8: Policies for the social protection of the youth ........................................................... 27Table 9: Approximate monthly wage rates in agriculture for selected sub-sectors 29Table 10: Daily minimum wage rate ......................................................................................................29Table 11: People ..............................................................................................................................................31Table 12: Policies............................................................................................................................................ 33Table 13: Institutions ...................................................................................................................................34

FiguresSouth Africa

Figure 1: NEET rate for youths aged 15-24 in single years....................................................... 23Figure 2: NEET rate for youth aged 15-24 years by gender ..................................................... 23Figure 3: NEET rate for youth aged 15 to 24 years by race ......................................................24Figure 4: NEET rate for youth 15-24 years by level of education ......................................... 25Figure 5: Comparing formal and informal employment ............................................................30Figure 6: Gender dynamics of employment in the sector ........................................................30

Argentina

Figure 7: Structure of urban employed population by economic activity sector, 2011, Argentina ..........................................................................................................................36

Figure 8: Unemployment rate evolution by gender and age group, 2003-2011, Argentina ................................................................................................................................... 40

Figure 9: Percentage of salaried youth (from 15 to 24 years old) and salaried adults (from 25 to 64 years old) with informal jobs, 2003 and 2011 ........................... 40

Figure 10: Percentage of NEETs by education environment of the household, 2011, Argentina ..........................................................................................................................41

Figure 11: The education system’s links with Ministry of Labour resources and programmes .....................................................................................................................43

Argentina

Table 14: Pupils in regular and technical secondary education, youth and adult education, and vocational training, 2007-2012 ..........................................................39Table 15: Youth programmes, 2014 ......................................................................................................42Table 16: Main characteristics of the sectors .............................................................................. 46Table 17: People ........................................................................................................................................... 46Table 18: Policies .......................................................................................................................................... 47Table 19: Institutions ................................................................................................................................. 49

South Africa and Argentina

Table 20: Comparison between South Africa and Argentina .................................................. 51

NORRAg RESEARCH REPORT | 11

1. Objectives and Framework of the StudyThis chapter will outline the shared overall objectives, conceptual framework and methodological

approaches between the two case studies concerning youth transition to work and the labour market, within the framework of the project Understanding Barriers to Accessing Skills Development and Employment for Youth in Argentina and South Africa. Youth unemployment and youth development questions are studied from various vantage points. Youth unemployment spawns a number of social categories such as identity, class, culture etc. All these categories can contribute to a rich body of theoretical work on understanding youth transitions to work. The spatial dimension is critical given the geographical disparities between urban and rural economic concentrations of employment. Argentina and South Africa are also different in many ways, particularly in relation to the structure of their economic systems and the historical evolution of approaches to development broadly and to youth development in particular.

This study seeks to address two broad sets of questions in Argentina and South Africa:

• What is the quality of the productive activities that youngster get, such as jobs, employment, volunteering, and learnerships? By whom and where are productive activities provided (formal/informal; sectors, regions, type of ownership)? What are the structural barriers — such as general unemployment and precarious work, economic cycles and/or crisis, and deficits in educational supply — that cause barriers for the youth? What is the gender dimension of youth unemployment? What are the inequality characteristics among youth groups in accessing skills development and employment?

• What are the policies regarding work preparation and deployment? What are the conceptual approaches, guidelines and designs of implementation, their similarities, and contradictions? Do the policies help to improve youth opportunities in accessing skills development and quality work? How do institutions, providing skills development, promote the inclusion of young people, especially the disadvantaged ones? Which are their strategies for skills development? How do young people get into work preparation and work? What are the relations (conflicting, complementary and parallel) between the various actors within society, state, non-state, public and private national and international institutions (including the private sector) dealing with the same issues?

1.1. Objectives

general objective

Understanding barriers to accessing skills development and employment for youth in the two countries and the policies addressing them.

Specific objectives

• Describing the context of each country in order to understand the social, educational and labour backgrounds.

• Describing and analysing youth employment at the national level and in specific sectors of the economy, from a quantitative perspective, focusing on factors that facilitate or block the access of youngsters to ‘decent’ work.

• Identifying and classifying policies addressing skills development and work in the national public governance system as well as in the international development cooperation.

• Analysing strategies of implementation and performance developed by institutions and programmes that support the policies above, in specific sectors of the economy.


1.2. Theoretical framework

In this section we present a theoretical framework that speaks to the following questions:

• Where is work coming from? Theorising the youth employment ‘problem’.

• What is the nature of skills and work preparation?

• What is the nature of social justice in education and work?

1.2.1. Work: historical, political and economic dimensions

Work as a social activity has a history that goes as far back as pre-capitalist economic relations. Nonetheless it is critical to keep in mind the various dimensions of work including the way it is presented and plays out within identities and values. Humans have always engaged in work as part of their social reproduction and as a means of livelihood. Within industrialisation, the notion of work was transformed to become linked to industrial production, resulting in a greater emphasis on more schooling and training in order to meet the requirements of industry. With the move to neoliberal globalisation the restructuring of work has radically redefined the ways in which work is organised and how it is accessed by professionals, young people and jobseekers in general.

Standing argues that ‘Youths have always entered the labour force in precarious positions, expecting to have to prove themselves and learn. But today’s youth are not offered a reasonable bargain. Many enter temporary jobs that stretch well beyond what could be required to establish ‘employability’. A wheeze of flexibility has been used to extend probationary periods, during which firms can legally pay lower wages and provides fewer benefits’ (Standing, 2011:65).

The notion of decent work is contentious in development discourse locally and internationally. Yet many progressive scholars and researchers have mobilised for decent work in the face of the increasing informalisation of work in many parts of the world. Some argue that decent work is not attainable under capitalism but should be part of processes towards building an alternative economic paradigm. ‘The goal of decent work should be seen as an objective to be progressively realised. Quite simply, this involves accepting that decent work is not an immediately achievable goal. Each country will have to take into account its specific social and economic context and set itself a series of immediate, medium and long-term goals’ (Webster, 2012:117).

Classical conceptions of work and the labour market that have emerged from sociology have sought to analyse the ways in which the macro structure of the economy impacts on the relationship between the employer and the employee. The sociological approach to labour markets seeks to analyse the persistence of inequality, poverty, discrimination, low wages and insecurity within the labour market. In this sense, work is not viewed in a linear way as merely a relationship governed by a contract: it is essentially structured by dynamics of power and contestation within the labour relationship.

The idea that there is a pre-existing market condition in which full employment can be attained within the capitalist labour market is increasingly proving difficult to maintain. Producers are increasing their use of technology or mechanisation, meaning that even skilled workers with vocational training are finding it difficult to access gainful employment. According to the international debate, informal labour arises because of the productive decentralization, associated with globalization and changes in the international division of work. Enterprises make systems of production more flexible and efficient in order to maximise benefits or profits (ILO, 2013). Thus, the economic growth does not reduce the size of the informal sector, since this is considered as a special feature of the development of capitalism. Informality is a problem for employment, as most of the workers in the informal sector have much lower living standards, and their labour rights are not always guaranteed.


Neoliberal changes in the global economy have intensified the level of economic insecurity among young people. Let us turn for a moment to the way in which we understand ‘young people’. Bradford (2012) contends,

‘The way in which youth is understood as distinctive and having special characteristics, as an ‘in-between’ or liminal social category, as inherently troublesome and as requiring services designed to meet its specific needs is typical of modern societies in the global North’ (Bradford, 2012:23).

It should also be added that youth in and of itself is not a class — it is a heterogeneous group with different socio-economic levels. However, the nature of our theoretical framing is orientated towards youth from poor backgrounds who experience difficulties in accessing employment and as a result must overcome many barriers. Today, permanent work opportunities are increasingly scarce and precarisation

1is rising.

This however does not imply that young people have no agency; nor do they exercise agency as a means of addressing the problem they find themselves in due to high unemployment. Structural unemployment has forced young people to also re-evaluate their relations with the political-economic environment around them.

Similar features between countries are shaping the youth unemployment debate; numerous protests about youth unemployment in Europe and North Africa over the last five years demonstrate the extent of the problem. The issue about unemployment is not only about lack of income, it also relates to the lack of personal recognition in society. Youth employment appears as an issue not only in the South African political scope but also in other parts of the world such as the Latin-American political agenda. In all cases, the pathway to employment and overcoming barriers for youth requires a multi-dimensional perspective which integrates policy interventions, institutional configuration, place of residence, gender and broadly the subjectivity of youth around transitioning to work. It is also equally an issue that the structural conditions of the labour market work against easier access to employment for youth.

In the case of South Africa the youth’s transition to work has become further accentuated by historical racialised divisions of labour, spatial disparities, gender inequalities and other social cleavages. While the cause of lack of access to employment by the youth is often cited as a problem caused by individuals who either took wrong academic choices or lack the ‘social capital’ to access work opportunities, this is often described as a skills shortage. Allais and Nathan (2014:13) argue that a skills shortage is widely regarded as a major contributor to South Africa’s high unemployment levels. In Argentina, youth’s transitions are also divided due to social inequalities that grew stronger in the last few decades. These inequalities do not generally arise from racialised divisions but from market segmentation by regions, spatiality, gender and socio-economic backgrounds.

Our theoretical perspective accepts, then, that young people’s lives are shaped by the socioeconomic circumstances that they live in and that, while their individual agency to resist or explore alternative means to survive economically is limited, it is also a source of power which they draw on to search for employment or work preparation opportunities. Implicit in this is the notion of agency. The objective reality of the transition to work necessitates that youth invariably draw on social networks, groups, family ties and other resources to negotiate access to employment.

According to Sewell (1992), ‘Structures shape people’s practices, but it is also people’s practices that constitute (and reproduce) structures. In this view of things, human agency and structure, far from being opposed, in fact presuppose each other’ (Sewell, 1992:3). On the other hand, Giddens, in his seminal work The Constitution of Society, argues that ‘Structure is not to be equated with constraint but is always both constraining and enabling. This, of course, does not prevent the structured properties of social systems from stretching away, in time and space, beyond the control of any individual actors. Nor does it compromise the possibility that actors’ own theories of the social systems which they help to constitute and reconstitute in their own activities may reify those systems’ (Giddens, 1984:25).


In this sense the youth unemployment problem and transitions to work are shaped by the structural conditions that determine economic and social relations in society. In this sense also, youth’s transition processes are not homogeneous, because there are different ‘worlds of the inclusion’ (Dubar, 2001) differentiated according to occupational sectors, characteristics of the companies, intermediaries of employment, educational institutions and vocational training, and youth segments. The characterization of this diversity requires passing from general observation to an approach that puts a spotlight on a specific sector of activity.

As a synthesis, Keep (2012) identifies seven problems traditionally identified by researchers and policymakers in the UK regarding youth transitions:

• Job quantity and quality, including casualization, entry level employment that has no training attached to it, temporary, part-time and agency work; low paying, boring and/or unpleasant work, and lack of worker ‘voice’ and task discretion.

• Youth unemployment, linked to low levels of employer recruitment of young people generally.

• Youth under-employment in terms of working hours, skills mismatches and over-qualification.

• Employer dissatisfaction with the education system’s products (lack of work readiness and employability).

• Lack of subsequent progression - the trap of low-paid dead end jobs.

• Rising skills (qualification) levels of young workers not feeding through over time into underlying gross value added or productivity rates. This is coupled with a growing realisation that the linkages between skill production and skill demand and utilisation to create a competitive edge are much more complex and much less automatic than we used to like to believe (Keep, 2012:4).

• Extended and risky transitions.

The consequence of these problems is that policy makers tend to develop responses that are closely aligned with how the problem has been identified rather than addressing the root causes of the problem such as the structural orientation of the economy. In some instances, people blame young people for being in a situation of unemployment rather than accounting for the broader political economy factors that need to be addressed through policy interventions. There are, however, a number of interventions between the structural and subjective frameworks that may increase opportunities, develop resources and give momentum to the capacity to use them.

Understanding the transitions and the opportunity structure of a society entails studying the concrete institutions where youth are deployed. These institutions play a role by providing not only resources but also the tools to implement them. We define the institutional intervention role played in the transition to labour as the measure and form created by each institution as a place for: labour socialization, social inclusion and educational continuity (Jacinto, 2010).

The youth work preparation programmes are generally geared towards entry into the formal economy, which is limited in creating enough work opportunities for youth to enter the labour market. Locating our understanding of where work comes from should encompass an economy-wide assessment of the reality of access to work for youth in conditions where formal employment has not grown significantly and work opportunities are few.

This study looks at the skills and work preparation dimension from an empirical and a conceptual point of view. Empirically the study is restricted to two sectors of the economy - the wine and construction industries - in relation to youth, employment and skills development. It aims to provide evidence to support the argument that issues of employment and labour market are critically contested in these workplaces and are shaped by regulatory and policy measures in different sectors.


1.2.2. Skills and work preparation

The notion of skills is ideologically and theoretically contested, as it is often used to mean a variety of things, from technical manual work, to high-level expert knowledge, to scientific and other applied mathematical fields. The term ‘skills’ has also come to denote a set of training activities both before and in employment. Winch (2011) argues the concept of skill, as it is used in the labour market, expresses the view that to possess a skill is to have mastered a technique for carrying out a type of task within a work situation, traditionally within a context of a trade but in technically orientated occupations as well. In relation to youth employment, the term ‘skills’ has tended to refer more to programmes such as vocational training, learnerships, internships, graduate placement programmes and other such processes, which are aimed at facilitating the transition from school (and higher education) to employment.

From a more conceptual and theoretical point of view, the notion of skills has been seen to result in the instrumentalisation of education to meet the demands of the labour market, whereas education’s primary objective is to retain its intrinsic value of providing knowledge for knowledge’s sake. Skills have also been presented as a ‘solution’ i.e. what Mayhew and Keep (2010) define as a ‘social and economic panacea’ to developmental problems confronting society.

In a paper entitled ‘What are skills?’ Allais (2011) criticises the notion of ‘skills as tasks’ as a narrow way of defining skills which tends to be decontextualised from power, social policy and the structuring of the labour market. In Argentina, a similar debate is present between the narrow perspective related to the interventions of the Labour Ministry and the larger academic perspective of the Ministry of Education. It is argued that skills refer to different types of knowledge about work, related not only to the concrete task that needs to be performed, but also to the “know how” that is used in that performing and to the capacity to face conflict situations. This last type of knowledge was called “knowledge about situation” (Spinosa, 2006).

McGrath (2002) contends that the notion of skill has shifted from an input orientated concept of ‘Education and Training’ to an outcomes-orientated perspective, due to the rise of globalization and the increasing dominance of market-led ideologies in society. The differing perspectives on what constitutes skill and the search for a common language has implications for statisticians, researchers and labour market research in general. The notion of skills is central to the various distinctions between members of the labour force and subsequently the bargaining levels for purposes of remuneration. There is a more critical view within the South African literature (Motala, Vally and Spreen, 2011), which contends that the mainstream explanations of a ‘skills shortage’ are not only insufficient but also paralyzing:

‘The nation, and regrettably it seems even organisations of the working class, are hostage to a particular way of thinking and are largely paralysed by it. In this thinking the main proposition is the idea that there is a great shortage of skills in our society and that in particular areas of skills these are so critical as to make any possibilities for economic advancement in particular sectors of the economy unimaginable; that the education and training system is hopelessly inconcurrent with the demands of the economy, that the lack of skills is one of the (if not the) greatest obstacles to achieving high levels of economic growth, that the lack of skills is the primary cause for low levels of productivity, and the country cannot compete internationally given this poverty of skills and will therefore fall further behind relative to the developed and other developing economies of the world’ (Motala, Vally and Spreen, 2011:251).

It is within these vicissitudes of social, political and ideological contestation that the skills development and youth work preparation discourse is taking place globally. The contours of discussion also include the critical role of employers and/or organised business, which have dominated the discussion on skills development since the mid-1990s. Both countries’ skills development contexts straddle the need for social redress on one hand and the distributive requirements of the labour market through employment


on the other. Finding a balance between the two in order to have a simpler transition to employment for the unemployed youth is the ultimate challenge that needs to be addressed. The commitment of different social actors and the establishment of a public-private partnership to face this challenge has been a key part of the recent public policies in Argentina and also in South Africa.

1.2.3. A social justice dimension: education and work in the framework of social protection policies

Both Argentina and South Africa have at different times recovered from deep social crises, which have resulted in social injustices, social inequality, poverty and underdevelopment. In the case of Argentina, the economic crisis of 2001 resulted in economic instability, currency depreciation, huge social instability due to the economic crisis and a greater need for social protection for the youth. In the case of South Africa, apartheid — abolished in 1994 — has left a legacy of social injustices such as racial inequality, spatial inequality, unequal distribution of economic resources and a further divide between rich and poor. The establishment of a democratic order in 1994 ushered in more favourable conditions for the pursuit of social justice. Transformation in terms of racial redress is crucial for the understanding of social justice. The youth employment and skills development issue is a central component of social justice aimed at overcoming the historical injustices of apartheid and colonialism.

In Latin America, a new paradigm of comprehensive social protection related to social justice emerged powerfully from the acute economic crisis of the eighties and nineties. Raising the need for structural developments and re-discussion of the development models, the new perspective of social protection aims at coherence and coordination in policies at the national and local levels.In the case of Argentina, during the period under research, employment and training policies as well as social policies were conceived as the way to install new forms of social protection. Thus, the instruments already in use for work training, work practices and entrepreneurship support began to be directed towards the “addition” of opportunities. In the social protection approach, training for work was not considered as training alone, but as a set of combinations of mainstream education, informal education and work experiences, including vocational guidance and life skills.

In both countries, social justice and the social protection approach are implicitly associated with the struggle for a just society, which has both a political and an economic dimension. As poverty, unemployment, and gender inequality increase, the battle around pursuing social justice continues to intensify.

A strong intellectual current that has a social democratic orientation is the human capabilities approach, which is gaining currency in the debates about vocational education, skills development and human development. The works of Sen (1999) focus on poverty and inequality and assert that education, even at a minimum level, plays a necessary role in achieving human capabilities. Human capabilities have to be judged and aligned with the substantive freedoms one enjoys in order to lead the kind of life that one can value. ‘In this sense poverty must be seen as the deprivation of basic capabilities rather than merely a lowness of incomes’ (Sen, 1999:87).

Vocational Education and Training (VET) scholars (Powell 2012, Powell 2013, Tikly 2012, McGrath 2012) use the capabilities approach to argue that education can provide a basis for learning for life rather than learning for work only, by expanding the basis of education which then enhances the entire human capability of those in VET. By so doing the capabilities perspective seeks to transcend the aspects of VET research which are structuralist and quantitative. The capabilities approach is also closely aligned to a social justice perspective, which aims to put the needs of people first. ‘By putting the needs of people first – rather than the needs of the economy – the capability approach brings to the forefront of VET and skills development discourse the importance of social justice, human rights, and poverty alleviation’ (Powell, 2013:2).


1.2.4. Comparing Argentina and South Africa?

Our project suggests that there is a ‘Southern’ perspective, but what exactly should it consist of? Or what do we mean by that? Can the project produce such a critical alternative?

South–South co-operation implies a geo-political posture which ultimately challenges the hegemony of ‘Western/Northern’(W/N) economic and political dominance. Such a narrative has recently found expression in new regional bodies such as BRICS. The suggestion of a Southern perspective also implies an epistemological break with dominant paradigms of studying development and youth unemployment in particular. What is clear is that the most dominant writings in the field of youth unemployment, transitions and skills development are informed by the experiences of scholars in W/N societies. What usually occurs is that concepts derived from these countries eventually inform the policy discourse in the South. The result of this is that the frameworks we use tend to be either empiricist or conceptually derived from the W/N literatures.

A Southern perspective has to clearly describe how it departs from W/N approaches; it has to be clear on its methodological groundedness and its relevance to the societies that it is studying. As Lolwana (2011) has argued, ‘Developing countries tend to adopt conceptual models from richer countries as well as policy models from richer countries which are often problematic even in the rich countries but fail spectacularly in poor countries. At the same time, poor countries are likely to overexaggerate the role of education and training or have much higher expectations’.

Argentina and South Africa are different in many respects, from demographic indicators to the structuring of the political system. We do, however, share some commonalities such as high youth unemployment, problems of youth transition, and levels of inequality. South Africa has a unitary governmental system while Argentina works on a federal system. Such differences at the state level have implications for how we view the data and interpret it. Given the paucity of studies comparing South Africa and Argentina in the youth development field, our findings will have implications for the conceptual development of cross-national studies among Southern countries on similar topics.

In this sense, this study is not comparative in a strict sense, but intends to be collaborative. What is the contribution of this collaborative study? We intend to achieve a common comprehension on youth employment, as well as a common conceptualization of the skills development policies, examining in both countries the networks that can facilitate labour inclusion and minimise youth barriers to accessing employment. These conceptual debates have implications for our understanding of the methodological basis of the study, as we are not merely collecting data but using that data to reconstruct theory and develop a conceptual approach that best explains our findings. The concepts we use are not value-free: they are value-laden in so far as they relate to the study of economic and social phenomena that are influenced by larger market structures.

2. Research Questions and Methodology

2.1. Research questions• What quality of jobs do youngsters get? By whom and where is work provided (formal/informal, sectors,

regions, type of ownership, size etc.)? What are the structural barriers, such as general unemployment and precarious work? What are the economic cycles and/or crises or deficits in educational supply that cause barriers for the youth? What are the inequality characteristics amongst youth groups in accessing skills development and employment?

• What are the policies regarding work preparation and deployment? Which are the conceptual approaches, guidelines and designs of implementation, their complements, and contradictions? Do the policies help to improve youth opportunities in accessing skills development and quality work? How do institutions


promote the inclusion of young people, especially the disadvantaged ones, and what are their strategies in skills development? How do young people get into work preparation and work? What are the relations (conflicting, complementary and parallel) between the institutions and some other non-state actors (including the private sector) dealing with the same issues?

2.2. Research design

This study is based on the supposition that youth employment is a phenomenon socially constructed through public policies, young people themselves, and institutionalised training interventions. This social construct is made up of segmented youth trajectories where, at a macro-social level, processes of reproduction are observed as well as new processes of change and differentiation (Bourdieu, 1988). In these processes, education and particularly work training acquire significant relevance in the possibility for generating processes of work inclusion for youngsters (Jacinto y Gallart, 1998; Jacinto y Millenaar, 2010).

In this framework, the methodological design used to approach the phenomenon of youth employment as “social construction” was based on different levels:

• Opportunities and restrictions faced by youngsters due to the segmented labour market and sectors

At the level of the youngsters themselves, one must take into account that their transition to the world of work is produced in the framework of unequal social relations: social position, gender, age group, ethnicity. Youth employment is segmented, both in Argentina and South Africa, according to different educational achievement levels and the labour market. From a quantitative framework, we have considered not only socio-demographic variables of differentiation (level of education, sex, age) but also specific characteristics of the work opportunities for youngsters in different sectors of activity. As the established mechanisms of access to work are diverse in segmented socio-productive structures, the focus has been placed on two specific sectors in both countries: construction and wine-production.

• Policies aimed at youth employment

The assumptions, regulations, and strategies of the policies aiming at labour market inclusion of the youth are related to broader perspectives for approaching the social issue, implicit in the political economy. In this sense, different rationales live alongside each other within policies; they are often collaborative as well as conflictive. From a qualitative perspective, we have identified and classified them in order to show the global rationale used to intervene in relation to skills development in the national public governance system.

• Work training institutions

Different strategies are developed to respond to the needs and demands of the populations targeted, as well as to specific linkages between education and work in the sectors of activity. From a qualitative perspective, we have studied these arrangements and these include companies (their personnel selection process, demand for qualifications and skills and their employees’ training strategies) and different programmes which offer work training (vocational training, secondary school technical education, work programmes and/or educational second chance for youngsters, work training programmes in secondary school among others). These programmes are particularly aimed at unemployed youngsters or those with poor access to formal work, generally with low levels of qualifications (secondary school diploma or not having completed their secondary education) with the objective of supporting them in their first work transition.

2.3. Research methodology

Several units of analysis were used:

• Youngsters (15-24 in Argentina; 15-34 in South Africa): their national trends in terms of employment, precarious work, informal work and the linkages between education and work at the sectorial level


• Education, Training and Employment policies (at the national macro level and the sectorial level)

• The networks/linkages between training institutions, unions, companies and other associations at the local level.

The focal point was two specific sectors of activity in both countries (construction and wine production), selected according to theoretical criteria of characteristics and possibilities for comparison between the countries related to the networks promoting youth access to employment. The comparative strategy between Argentina and South Africa was developed at a national level (policies and characteristics of youth employment) as well as at a sectorial level, considering both youth employment and institutional work training interventions in both of the selected sectors.

Different social research techniques were used in this study. On the one hand and from a quantitative perspective, secondary data, which public statistics systems hold on youth employment, were compiled and processed. On the other hand, from a qualitative strategy, 1) documents and other secondary sources of policies at a national and sectorial level were compiled and analysed, and 2) semi-structured interviews were carried out with key actors and stakeholders. The chosen strategy to approach the research questions was the triangulation of these various techniques and data sources (Flick, 1992; Fielding and Fielding, 1986).

The research techniques, sources and indicators are presented in Annex.

3. South Africa

3.1. Context

The Republic of South Africa is a unitary and constitutional democracy with a three-tier system. Legislative authority is held by the parliament of South Africa. Executive authority is vested in the President of South Africa who is the Head of State and Head of Government, and his Cabinet. The three-tier governance system is composed of a national system, 9 provincial governments, and 284 local governments. All three levels of government have legislative and executive authority in their own spheres, and are defined in the South African constitution as “distinctive, interdependent and interrelated” (www.gov.za; www.info.gov.za/documents/constitution/1996/index.htm).

Table 1: Demographics

Size 1 220 813km²Population density per km² 44.22013 population estimate 53,82mProportion African Proportion Coloured Proportion Indian / Asian Proportion White

79.0% 9.0% 2.5% 9.5%

Proportion aged below 18 (2012) 35.5%Proportion aged 65 and above 5.3%Male life expectancy (2011-2016) 59.1Female life expectancy (2011-2016)

63.1

Youth definition 15-35 years


Table 2: The Economy

GDP growth rate 2.2%Average annual real growth (2003 -2013)

3.7%

Proportions of GDP: Agriculture Mining Manufacturing Electricity, gas and water Construction Trade Transport Finance Community, social and personal services General government services

2.1% 8.1% 11.9% 3.3% 3.6% 13.3% 9.0% 18.2% 8.3% 15.1%

Labour Market participation rate (2Q 2014)

57.3%

Unemployment (official) (2Q 2014)

25.5%

Unemployment (expanded) (2Q 2014)

35.6%

People living in relative poverty 35.9%Dependency on employed population

2.6%

Table 3: Education

Number of pupils (grades 1-12) 12.49mEducation expenditure as a proportion of total (2013-2014)

41.6%

Proportion of 0-4s attending ECD 33.0%Proportion of literate adults 92.9%Proportion of adults with no education

5.5%

Proportion of adults with grade 12 education

32.7%

Proportion of adults with university degree or higher qualifications

4.7%

Proportion of pupils in no-fee schools

73.2%

Proportion of pupils in receipt of social grants

25.8%


3.2. The Skills Development System

3.2.1. Institutional and political context

The Skills Development system is composed of Industry Training, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges, Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETA) and Quality Assurance agencies. Except for Industry Training, all other entities are accountable to the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). However, it may be said that the DHET entities function disparately as coordination is lacking in the system.

South Africa has made significant gains and progress in overcoming the skills development legacy of its past, since the advent of democracy in 1994. But despite this progress, low levels of skills among the majority of the formerly disadvantaged population and stubbornly high unemployment rates, especially among youths (15 – 35 years), still remain one of the country’s most pressing concerns and one of the greatest impediments to a better future for all. The skills development challenge as it has been inherited from the restrictive education and training policies of the past is not easy to overcome. Apart from dealing with general pressures produced by globalization and the knowledge economy, the country faces some unique domestic challenges in the area of skills development. These challenges have been mainly inherited from the apartheid era.

3.2.2. International influences on the skills development strategy

The international influence on skills development started before the dismantling of apartheid, with unions in different countries collaborating with the Congress of South African Trade Union (COSATU) on policy development. What started as a union to union cooperation in skills development matters soon became the merging together of a creative alliance of trade union educators, progressive employers, academics and even individuals from Government. In spite of the absence of directives from donors regarding international aid given for education and training, complex interaction occurred between South Africans and the international community that resulted in the borrowing of policies from all over the world. First, the need to move dramatically away from the apartheid legacy was a strong driving force for almost all South Africans. Policymakers, academics, workers, and NGOs raided the world looking for answers.

The case in point is the relationships that were formed by the South African Trade Unions and Australian Trade Unions and the Anti-Apartheid Movement abroad. Even though this aid came in the form of solidarity initially, as the political system was quickly getting overturned, this aid also soon changed to policy transfer (Carton & King, 2004). The timing of this borrowing is also illuminating. Carton and King (2004) trace for us the steps that were travelled by the policies that were soon to become global policies. For example, in their view the reason Australia was to become a fertile source of ideas for South African ideas in skills development and qualification frameworks was that it had recently undergone major restructuring of its industry and economy due to a massive loss of jobs preceding the establishment of its bible for the Australian industrial skills revolution, Australia Reconstructed. The Australians themselves had travelled to Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Belgium and Luxembourg to borrow the best policies. The message was clear:

‘That high skills and high wages would be critical to Australia’s global competitiveness, and that this would mean massive changes to its own version of ‘apartheid’ in which there was an extremely rigid skills system, with little or no flexibility or mobility of workers within its own different provinces’ (Carton and King 2004: 22).

This reconstruction was to be followed by New Zealand. When South Africa came along looking for ideas, there was a lot of resonance with the new look policies as they were seemingly addressing similar concerns as those of South Africa. It was therefore not surprising that when the ideas of a new training strategy


emerge in the discussions prior to the onset of the new government, both the trade unions and business participants who were familiar with the New Zealand and Australian policies immediately found each other and led the course of development.

The greatest push in the skills development policy arena came along with the European Union funding tranche, which was the largest in donor funding to be received by the Department of Labour. This came with a myriad of European consultants who were immersed in the skills development policy as well as the operationalization of these strategies. However, there was an interesting interaction that occurred between these European consultants and the Deutsche Gesellschaft Für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) office, so that the voice of GIZ seemed to loom larger than the other European counterparts. In that context, the country has tried to implement a Skills Development Strategy that emulates the German system.

Since moving the skills development portfolio form the Department of Labour to the Department of Higher Education and Training, one major international influencer has emerged in the form of OECD, which has conducted a review of the South African TVET system, concentrating mainly in the TVET colleges (OECD, 2014). On their recommendations, the following reviews are already taking place: curriculum; SETA levies and the links with industries. The Swiss Embassy has also supported a Ministerial Task Team to look at a possibility of developing a statutory body to manage the TVET space. Finally DHET seems to be interested in the BRICS countries’ TVET system, although not much concrete work seems to have been done yet.

3.3. Youth employment

Employment is dominated by adults. Of the employed, 57.2% were aged 35 – 64 years. In this section, youth employment in both the formal and informal economy will be discussed and sometimes a comparison with the adult population will be made.

3.3.1. Youth employment in the formal economy

Table 4: Youths aged 15-34 years in the labour market

Thousand PercentEmployed 5 976 30.8Unemployed 3 195 16.5Discouraged 1 563 8.1Other (not economically active)

8 676 44.7

Population 15-34 years 19 410 100.0Source: Statistics South Africa (QLFS, 3rd quarter, 2013)

Table 5: NEETs

2 aged 15-34 years

(1) Not in education and not in employment

7 314

(2) Population 15-34 years 19 410(3) NEET Rate 37.7

(3) is a percentage of (2)Source: Statistics South Africa report (2012)


Within the age group of 15-24 years, NEET rates differ. They rise from a low 4.4% among the 15-year-olds and peak at 54.6% among the 23-year-olds (Figure 1). In other words, half of all 23-year-olds are not in employment, education or training.

We also find further differences in the NEET rate with respect to gender and race. These are attributes that are important in South Africa as they speak to the historical past of inequalities. For example by gender, the disparities are also pronounced. The NEET rate for female youth is 7.6 % percentage points higher than the rate for male youth (Figure 2).

Figure 1: NEET rate for youths aged 15-24 in single years

Source: Statistics South Africa report (2012)

Figure 2: NEET rate for youth aged 15-24 years by gender

Source: Statistics South Africa report (2012)

NEET rates also differ substantially by population group. The NEET rate for black African youths, at 33.1%, is three times the rate of white youths (11.0%) (Figure 3). Across the population groups, young women face higher NEET rates compared to their male counterparts, with the largest gender gap found between black African men and black African women at 8.9 percentage points. It is interesting to note that among the coloured population, male NEET rates are higher than female rates. Across population groups, black African females have the highest NEET rate; more than one in three black African young women are NEET compared to one in eight white young women.


Figure 3: NEET rate for youth aged 15 to 24 years by race

Source: Statistics South Africa (2012)

Table 6: Distribution of youths aged 15-34 years old by level of education3

Thousand PercentHigh school graduates & less

17 594 90.6

TVET 271 1.4Higher* 1 451 7.5Do not know and Other 94 0.5Total 19 410 100.0

* includes youths with diplomas and certificates for courses of 6 months or longer, who have completed high school.

Source: Statistics South Africa: 2011 census

Besides vocational training, an interesting pattern emerges in terms of NEET rates by level of education. While lower levels of education are associated with higher NEET rates, NEET rates are also higher for those who have completed secondary and tertiary levels of education (Figure 4). The highest NEET rate is for young people with no schooling (54.5%) and the lowest for young people with an incomplete secondary level of education (25.8%).


Figure 4: NEET rate for youth 15-24 years by level of education

Source: Statistics South Africa: 2011 Census

According to the diagram above, we can come to the conclusion that having completed high school and even tertiary education puts young people at a disadvantage compared to those who have not completed high school. This would go against popular wisdom that the more education one has, the better off one is in accessing employment. Even though this idea has not been tested, it can be hypothesised that this diagram speaks to the nature of the labour market in the country. It can be assumed that those with less education are more likely to get into the informal economy than their qualified counterparts. The former are also likely to take very lowly jobs doing domestic work, gardening or security tasks, or being petrol attendants or temporal workers, etc. which shows that elementary jobs might still be available out there.

In a nutshell, young people aged 15-34 years in South Africa display the following characteristics (Source: Statistics South Africa Annual Report 2012):

• More than 1 in 3 young people (aged 15-34 years) are unemployed.

• 16.8% of young people are unemployed compared to 9.6% of adults.

• 55.7% of the unemployed youth have never worked.

• 63.5% of young people did not complete their secondary schooling.

• Young people accounted for 70.9% of the unemployed.

• Close to 1 in 12 young people had given up searching for work, accounting for 69.1% of the discouraged work-seekers in the labour market.

3.3.2. Employment in the informal economy

Various sources quote different statistics on the informal sector. For example, Loots (1998) estimated the size of the informal economy to be 12% of the GDP. Schneider (2002) put the informal economy at 28.4%. Statistics South Africa (2007) estimated the informal sector at 18.5%. The average estimates of this sector are between 7% and 12% (Casale et al., 2004; Braude, 2005; Muller, 2003). However, these estimates might be gross underrepresentations of the actual numbers as formal employment has been declining and an increasing number of individuals see informal employment as the best alternative to formal sector employment (Blaauw, 2005). South Africa, with its highly diversified formal economy, has not paid much attention to its informal economy sector. The assumption has always been that the formal economy will expand to absorb the majority of the workers and therefore the attention has to be on growing the formal economy. However, the raging debate about the definition of the informal economy continues and causes this sector not to benefit from the rigorous statistics collection that takes place in the country. This also subordinates issues about employment to those of the formal economy.


In the 3rd quarter of 2014, Statistics South Africa reported the following statistics for the informal economy:

Table 7: The informal economy

Sector Sept 2014 (thousands)

Informal (non-Agriculture) Mining Manufacturing Utilities Construction Trade Transport Finance Community and Social Services Other

2407 2 213 3 319 1035 207 170 390 1

Informal (Subsistence Agriculture)

670

Private Households 1290Total 4367

Source: Quarterly Labour Survey, 2014 (Statistics South Africa, 2014)

3.4. Policies for youth skills development and employment

3.4.1. Overview

South Africa’s policy story is a story of tensions between the ‘newcomers’ and ‘old timers’ (Lave and Wenger, 1990) founded on imperatives of transforming the social, political, and economic environment and reserving privilege. The political and economic conquest brought by colonialism and apartheid sought also to displace the social order and uproot the cultural arrangements of the pre-colonial period. It is not our intention to overstate here the typology invented to describe social learning in a factory, set up by Lave and Wenger (1990). However, it is worth clarifying that as the colonial conquest brought about role shifts, the newcomers became old timers. The negotiations that began in the late 1980s and the anticipation of a democratic settlement were informed by the identified need to collapse these historical binaries to create what came to be known as the ‘rainbow nation’. To fulfil this vision, the constitution of RSA aims to protect the rights of all citizens (Constitution of RSA, 1996).

A commitment to this principle was initially expressed in a ‘policy statement’ adopted in 1955 by the Congress of the People (COP) which was a union of the allies to the African National Congress (ANC) - the freedom charter. It stated that, ‘South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white’. As a result, the proliferation of policies since the 1990s has attempted to reclaim ideals expressed in the charter. Typically, emergent policies from the early days of transition until the present are littered with such discourses as redress, equality, and participation. However, due to differing interest between privileged and marginalised groups, proposed policy reforms tend to be contested and thereby favour the former group (de Clercq, 1997). The less privileged sometimes lack bargaining agility to lobby for fairer policy positions. This means that the transformation imperative which has to do with equitable racial representation in all structures of opportunity is often frustrated and sometimes derailed. Increasingly, the composition of persons needing education, training and employment opportunities is dominated by young people who may not have yet found exposure to interact with policy processes. Highly concerning is that about 73% of all unemployment in the country occurs in young people between 14 and 35 years of age (DTI, 2012).


3.4.2. Policies for the social protection of the youth

A need for a National Youth Policy (NYP) was identified in 2000. Although the proposed policy was never formerly adopted, it remained a guiding policy for the youth sector. In 2002, the National Youth Development Framework (NYDPF) was established and its scope of application stretched five years, from 2002 to 2007. There are two versions to the NYP; one covers the years 2008-2013 and the other 2009-2014. It is not clear as to what informs the five year cycles. Most of these policy documents begin with acknowledging that failure to care for the youth means that the nation is without a future (NYC, 1996; NYP, 2000; NYDF, 2002-2007; NYP, 2008-2013; NYP, 2009-2014).

However, there are three types of specific policies that have been designed for the social protection of young people, namely (a) those aimed at ensuring continued participation of young people in education and training for longer periods, (b) those aimed at supporting the youth in accessing employment, and (c) those targeting the welfare of young people.

Table 8: Policies for the social protection of the youth

Education and Training Access to Employment Social WelfareBasic Education

School Fee exemption

No-Fee School policy

National School Nutrition

Scholar transport

Technical and Vocational Education and Training

National Student Financial Aid Scheme

Learnerships with paid stipends

Artisan Development programme

Recapitalisation of TVET training institutions

Skills Development Strategy

Learnerships

Artisan development

Programmes

Employment Tax Incentive Act

Child Support Grant up to age 18

The largest social justice programme is for children when they are young, followed by one for those still attending basic education. The country has made significant strides in ensuring that young people do not die young, and can stay longer in school and achieve at least 9-10 years of education. It is the completion of the 12 years of schooling that is still a challenge, especially for poor students. Although some inroads have also been made in subsidising the tuition of those who are able to get into public TVET institutions, the availability of spaces in these institutions is still a major challenge. Because the employers do not generally see skills development as an investment, but rather as a cost, there is no social justice extended outside of the education and training system to the young people who need this opportunity the most.


3.5. Industry sectors

The Construction and Wine industries in South Africa are both significant contributors to the economy of the country and significant employers. Colonialism and apartheid have left a strong legacy of racial inequality in both sectors, requiring significant efforts of transformation. Throughout the twentieth century, the South African wine industry worked on a co-operative model which was anchored around KWV as a central purchaser of pressed grapes and production. The construction industry has been central to the building of physical infrastructure and associated largely with urbanization, as the structural features of the modern city have been developed by the construction sector.

3.5.1. The wine industry

A significant feature of the wine industry labour market has been the ‘tot’ or ‘dop’ system which was a system of payment of workers with alcohol rather than with monetary compensation. This was a system of social control which contributed immensely to the rise of alcohol abuse in the agricultural communities: ‘The dop system had its origins in the early years of colonial settlement in the Cape Colony, when indigenous pastoralist and coastal peoples were induced to enter service on settler farms with payment of tobacco, bread and wine. This tradition became an institutionalised element of farming practice in the Cape over the next 300 years and an important element of social control exercised over indigenous people of the region’ (London,1999:1408).

With the ushering in of the new Government in 1994, significant policy changes were introduced to protect workers and rural dwellers. New policy initiatives included the land reform programme; the application of labour law to agriculture; laws protecting agricultural workers and labour and agricultural marketing; and the Marketing of Agricultural Products Act (1996). The Government also took steps to stamp out the remaining pockets of the notorious dop system of providing wine rations as a form of payment (SAWCI, 2007:12). Within the transition phase the industry has undergone three key areas of change: (1) de-regulation from the ‘KWV model’, (2) integration into global value chains and (3) legislative changes.

3.5.2. The construction industry

The construction sector’s history since 1994 has seen a gradual trend of growth stimulated in particular by the state’s investment in infrastructure. Government investment in infrastructure is aimed mainly at dismantling apartheid spatial patterns, addressing poverty and inequality and improving physical infra-structure to create a conducive climate for private sector investment. Large scale housing projects, roads, water and sewerage infrastructure projects have been central to the state’s investments in infrastructure since the dawn of democracy. Since 2009 the government has adopted the Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPS) which are under the Presidential Infrastructure Co-ordination Committee (PICC). There are 18 SIPS which cover seven main areas: Geographic, Energy, Spatial, Social Infrastructure, Knowledge, Regional and Water and Sanitation.

3.6. The labour market trends of the two sectors

3.6.1. The wine industry

The much publicised worker strikes over minimum wages in De Doorns and the Overberg region in 2012/13 are considered to be amongst the most significant in post-apartheid South Africa. The strikes have been equated to the Marikana mining sector strikes which occurred in the same period in the Platinum belt of Rustenburg. Seasonal labour is a characteristic feature of the wine industry labour market, which is also linked with contractual employment or other forms of short-term employment. A greater number of migrant workers are employed in the sector. Skilled workers tend to be mostly permanently employed. The range of occupations and careers cuts across the value chain from primary production to marketing. Specialised


fields such as wine-making do not absorb big numbers but are critical to the functioning of the sector. Wine tourism also accounts for a significant number of employment opportunities in the sector. According to the Wine Industry Directory (2012/13) the wine industry supports about 336 128 job opportunities directly and indirectly across the value chain. Included in this figure are opportunities related to wine tourism.

The establishment of the minimum wage in 2012, set by the Minister of Labour through Sectorial Determination Thirteen, left farm workers as some of the lowest paid workers in the formal sector of employment. It is important to note that there are also variances in working conditions between farm workers; these differences often break down by gender, immigration status, race, and employment status. Generally, women earn less than men, partially because they make up a higher percentage of the casual or seasonal workers, but even in situations where their employment status is the same. There has also traditionally been a divide — albeit uneven or inconsistent in many places — between “coloured” workers, who tend to hold more of the permanent jobs, and “African” workers who make up a greater percentage of the casual or seasonal workers. More skilled workers, of whom there are fewer, tend to be paid higher wages while migrant or contract workers — workers who are sometimes employed by labour brokers — are sometimes paid below the minimum wage and face higher rates of vulnerability based on lack of consistent work (Wilderman, 2014: 6).

Table 9: Approximate monthly wage rates in agriculture for selected sub-sectors

Subsector Primary Production

Processing/ Pack house

Meat R 2000Dairy - R 2650Wines R 1100 R 1400Flowers R 800 R 1200Fisheries R 5000

(crewman)R 1892

Source: Agri-SETA, 2012/13, p. 4

The daily wage rate for farm workers has been improving slowly but not adequately enough to match those of wages in the rest of the labour market. In 2012 the minister of labour placed a sectorial determination for farmworker wages at a monthly minimum wage of 1 375.94 to 1 503.90 rand. Table 10 below shows a breakdown of the daily minimum wage rate since 2009.

Table 10: Daily minimum wage rate

Year Daily Minimum Wage Rate (Rand)

2009 56.792010 60.662011 63.362012 69.392013 105..002014 111.72

Sources: Department of Labour, 2011, 2012 and 2014

3.6.2. The construction industry

In this section we look specifically at trends in employment, the distribution between formal and informal economy employment, gender dynamics, professional registration, geographical distribution of employment, employment conditions as they relate to access to benefits and the nature of employment


contracts. According to the Stats SA Quarterly Labour Force Survey 2014, Quarter 2, the Construction sector accounts for 1 182 million employees, which is about 8 per cent of total employment in the labour market. This makes the construction sector one the bigger employers within the labour market.

The sector has a large informal sector which employs thousands of people. This informal sector is also responsible for private projects, housing renovations, community initiatives and other general small-scale infrastructural requirements in society. The sector is dominated by a huge number of small firms, many of which are dependent on provincial and local government for work. Economic downturns or recession impact the small firms significantly. ‘When there are economic hardships, demand for construction activities are put on hold, particularly in the private household sector. As such, when the economy is depressed, those working in the building subsector, particularly, including builders, electrical contractors and materials suppliers are negatively affected’ (CETA, 2013:13). Figure 5 below compares the trends in formal and informal employment in the sector.

Figure 5: Comparing formal and informal employment

Source: CETA SSP 2012/13

Employment by gender in the sector shows that employment in the sector has generally been male dominated as Figure 6 below confirms.

Figure 6: Gender dynamics of employment in the sector

Source: CETA SSP 2012/13


This presentation of industrial context was aimed at providing a descriptive overview of key trends in two sectors (Wine and Construction). It showed that racialised inequalities are still key features of both sectors, necessitating a serious focus on transformation. While young workers may be accessing new job opportunities, the sectors’ labour markets are generally quite vulnerable and seasonal in nature. Both sectors have a significant segment of casualised and externalised workers. In both sectors the professional and technical stratum of workers is reasonably stable in their employment.

3.7. Skills development, people, policies and institutions in the wine and construction industries

The previous data and analysis concerned People, Policies and Institutions and sought to address the following questions within a perspective of social justice in the skills development and deployment of youth in South Africa:

• What is the nature of the work young people get and where does it come from?

• What are the policies and practices for skills development and deployment that contribute to access or serve as barriers for youth?

• What is the social dimension of work and skills development in the country?

Table 11: People

Questions IndustriesWine Construction

What are the types of jobs for youth?

Most young people still enter the industry as unskilled labour and they are also likely to be part of the seasonal workforce that is dominant in the agricultural side of the industry. These types of jobs can be considered to be precarious as they do not offer payment packages associated with decent work.

Young people are still likely to enter the industry as unskilled labourers. Although many are said to enter the industry without career guidance, and will eventually drop out, construction jobs might be one of the few options available to youth, considering the high unemployment in the country. There are fewer jobs at the top in the construction industry and most youth are in what can be considered as precarious jobs.

By whom and where are the jobs for youth offered?

The bulk of the jobs are still in the vineyards in this industry, with cellars providing the least amount of jobs. These jobs are offered by farmers who own the vineyards.

Big construction companies are reported to provide the bulk of jobs for young people in the industry. The reason for this is that these companies have the HR infrastructure to handle recruitments and placements, unlike their SME counterparts.


What are the structural barriers? Educational levels were cited to be the first barrier for the people working in this industry. Second is the acquisition of Mathematics and Science, which is required to work in the cellars in wine production. Thirdly, the language factor loomed large as Afrikaans seems to be a dominant language in this industry. Fourthly, the wine industry is usually a family business and bringing young people to someone’s home is not an easy task.

Construction jobs are localised and depend on local labour, thus making these unavailable to many young people who aspire to enter the industry. Many of the companies adopt the ‘hiring at the gate’ policy to satisfy the industry charter for local content of labour. Young people, outside of the large infrastructure projects, are structurally barred from accessing the industry. Since the informal sector is not usually counted, we do not know what the situation is in terms of young people accessing the informal construction industry. However, it is estimated that the informal sector is larger than the formal sector in this industry.

What is the gender dimension? The wine industry still remains largely a male dominated industry in both the vineyards and the cellars. This reflects the history of the industry, although some black females with more education are beginning to emerge, more at the top.

More male youth enter the industry than their female counterparts. It is reported that there are still gender and ethnic prejudices that prevail in the industry, especially because most recruitments is largely through word of mouth at the lower levels. It is at the higher levels of skills that these prejudices seem to disappear.

What are the other inequality characteristics?

Ownership of the industry is still largely in white hands as such companies require a huge capital overlay. The geographical location of the industry is also confined to the Western and Northern Cape. Both these factors limit the opportunities for access for many young people.

There is a widespread understanding among the training providers and employers that the industry is full of foreign employees rather than with locals. Foreigners are more likely to accept poor conditions of employment than locals. Young people who access the industry often resort to establishing their own companies so that they may be sub-contracted by the well-established companies. These youth-headed companies often fail within a short period as the owners themselves have not acquired the necessary expertise and networks to manage effective companies.


Table 12: Policies


Policies in skills development Although there are general policies that govern or regulate skills development for all individuals in the country, it is hard to find industry-specific policies in the wine industry. This is because formal qualifications have historically been found at the top level, namely university diplomas and degrees. Training in this industry has not yet been formalised through policies. Oversight and funding for training in this sector is also provided by two different Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) and both are perceived not to have paid sufficient attention to their respective jurisdictions.

There are more industry-specific policies for skills development in this industry. It is an industry that has a history of formalised trade qualifications. The introduction of the new qualifications, such as learnerships, did not significantly impact on the training regime. However, the SETA that provides oversight and funding in this industry has always been perceived as one of the weakest. Young people are also protected from abuse or negligence as the industry is highly regulated.

Policies in employment Again, policies for employment are not industry-specific but the industry has to satisfy the general employment prescripts for the general labour market. There has been little take-up on the Employment Tax Incentive in general. Because these policies are very generic, employers generally adopt variable positions vis-a-vis providing access to young people. Employers who were generally described as being progressive, like Solms Delta, tended to have progressive employment practices towards the inclusion of young people in their employment, especially children of their older employees.

Policies for the employment of young people can be considered to be weak if not absent. There is no specific provision for the inclusion of young people in the labour market and therefore their inclusion is more by default than by design. There has been little take-up on the Employment Tax Incentive in general

Conceptual design in implementation

By and large, it is the employer organisations that seem to be on top of the policies, as employers are removed from this space. However, the custodian of transformation seems to be the South African Wine Trust (SAWIT), which had no control or oversight over companies or institutions. This made transformation policies almost irrelevant in this design

As indicated above, there does not seem to be any specific attempt to include young people in the employment agenda in this industry. On the contrary, it is the informal sector, like the Extended Public Works Programmes (EPWP) that seems to target young people in their training and provision of work. But this programme does not formally speak to the formal sector in the industry.


Impact of policies Policies for skills development and deployment do not seem to have made a significant impact in this industry, as nothing significant has changed with respect to the employment of young black individuals in meaningful jobs.

There has been a lot of training in this industry for both the formal and informal sectors. However, the lack of coordination and directing of resources makes it possible for the skills development to happen in parallel to the employment opportunities and often the two shall not meet.

Table 13: Institutions


Promotion of inclusion The main TVET institutions do not have any wine production programmes. One private institution – Pinotage Youth Development Agency (PYDA) –provides some courses in this industry. Most of their provisions emphasise soft skills with a light touch on core industry technical skills. This institution is pioneering and has a female majority of students, but support from industry is not very strong. One other public TVET is engaged by SAWIT in providing learnerships and has taken on board a lot of youth. But because of its disconnection with the industry, these young people find it difficult to access employment after institutional training.

The institutional training in public institutions promotes inclusion of all kinds of learners. In fact, the construction trades are more easily accessible to youth of disadvantaged backgrounds, as the curriculum is also not as academically taxing as some of the trades in engineering-related programmes. It is the connection to employment or workplace training that tends to be more challenging as this depends on the ownership of the construction companies.

Strategies for skills development The industry itself seems to still be grappling with transformational issues of ownership and has not quite engaged with the skills development issues of the industry. There is a disconnect between industry transformation and skills development.

There is a strong push for skills development in construction by both the public and private institutions. However, the public institutions seem to be disadvantaged through the confusion caused when the TVET curriculum changed and the employers distanced themselves from the public institutions. The two curriculum programmes that run in parallel now do not seem to help in making students’ transition to employment effective. However, it is the weakness of the Construction SETA that was lamented as the weakest link in the skills development chain in this industry.


Access to institutions Access to both the private and public institutions for training depends on the availability of skills development funding. However, access to employment is more difficult than to institutions. Therefore, the pursuit of careers in this industry is rather limited to a few.

Youth who qualify for TVET programmes offered in public training institutions can access these institutions with relative ease if they qualify for financial assistance or they can pay. However, it is those youths who do not qualify academically for TVET programmes who are still left out and these youths are in the majority. Some of them have had some limited work experience in the industry but have no way of getting the academic credentials.

3.8. Conclusion

South Africa has become a less equal society since the demise of apartheid. In spite of the many interventions that the government rolls out for the poor, such as social grants, subsidised water and electricity, housing, public health, and free school education, inequality, as measured by the Gini co-efficient, continues to grow (Bosch et al., 2010). What most of these policies have in common is their emphasis on the redistribution of resources. While such policies are important within a context of inherited resource inequality, they cannot be implemented at the cost of an emphasis on the redistribution of opportunities. Some emerging economies, particularly those in Latin America, which share a history of inequality, have over the past decade reaped the benefits of a growing focus on the latter by purposefully channelling opportunities towards the more disadvantaged sectors of society (De Barros et al., 2009).

The principle of equal opportunity to level the playing field is, firstly, a more sustainable approach, and secondly, a more appealing longer-term proposition to address income inequalities in contexts where high levels of emotive contestation exist around ownership of resources. De Barros and others (2009) share this sentiment, arguing that although most people decry unequal outcomes, fewer are proactive in searching ways to overcome unequal opportunities that give certain segments of a society a head-start above others. Access to opportunity works towards leveraging a levelling of the playing field, as it provides tools for social mobility. In other words, having opportunities in life prepares individuals for accessing further opportunities that provide social mobility. Hodge (1979) also views social mobility as a critical social mechanism which contributes to a stable body politic. Social mobility, whether taken in small steps, or long leaps, provides a measure of the gap between the social origins and social destinations of individuals. When the ultimate gap is wide for those who start from a position of disadvantage, the achievement reached reflects the opportunities given and taken along the way, and thus provides the measure of mobility possible for individuals.

Education is one of the primary social resources offering opportunities to individuals. As a result, most countries strive to provide their citizens with access to education in order to enhance the quality of their citizenship, but also to provide a platform for social mobility. Quite often, a distinctive feature that separates developed from developing societies is the extent to which this opportunity is extended to individuals. Frequently, developing countries limit this opportunity to a few years of – mostly primary – education. South Africa has paid less attention to making all young people complete the basic education of 12 years and when they do not, offering them second chance opportunities. Worse still, there are fewer opportunities for individuals to develop skills in preparation for work or occupations.

Access to gainful and continuous employment seems to be one sure way of getting individuals out of economic misery for themselves and their families, but this is something that seems to be elusive for most individuals living in poverty. There are many reasons why individuals remain unemployed for long periods


and cannot therefore sustain their lives by bringing a constant flow of resources into their families, but the three most common reasons are as follows: (1) lack of job opportunities; (2) lack of education and skills for the jobs that are available; and (3) a mismatch of skills and jobs in the area in which they live. These three factors are all related, and in poor areas all can be found to co-exist. In this study we found that all three elements constitute the main barriers that contribute to the lack of access of young people to employment.

4. Argentina

4.1. Context

4.1.1. General trends

Argentina is a country with a low-density population principally resident in urban areas. Its Indigenous and African-descendent population is small. Race is not a factor of differentiation in the population; however, ethnic origin is found to be related to material inequality. Immigrants account for 4.5% of the population and mainly come from neighboring countries.

Argentina operates under a federal system, with a national government and 24 provincial governments. The system of federal co-participation means that taxes collected partly belong to the national government and partly to the provinces, the governments of which are responsible for the management of education. Programmes financed at the national level are also often executed by the provinces or municipalities, requiring cooperation with the federal government.

After an acute socio-economic crisis at the beginning of the 2000s, the change of government in 2003 heralded the political and economic transformation of the development model in Argentina, which was beneficial to economic growth and necessitated re-distribution. A strong period of growth was observed between 2003 and 2012, supported by a beneficial international situation with regard to the price of commodities, but also reinforced by social and labour inclusion policies. Nevertheless, the economic structure of the country, based mainly on agricultural and food production, has not changed.

Most of the employment occurs within the service sector.

Figure 7: Structure of urban employed population by economic activity sector, 2011, Argentina

Source: CEPAL, 2011


Between 2003 and 2009, the middle class doubled in size from 9.3 million to 18.6 million (equivalent to 45% of the population).

The education indicators of the Human Development Index place Argentina as a country with a high level of development and education within the Latin American region (HDI score of 0.836 in 2015). At the same time, its GDP per capita (USD 14.715 in 2013) makes the country one of the most economically significant in Latin America.

Nevertheless, social inequality is still high, with 23% of the population living in poverty in 2013. The Gini coefficient was 44.5 that same year, placing the country in 49th place in the world. In addition, although economic reactivation has allowed for job growth, labour informality is still very high (over 30%). Women show higher rates of unemployment and job/unemployment informality than men.

As far as the education system is concerned, legislation has been in force since 2006 to make education compulsory from the age of five years until the end of secondary school. State education (the main type on offer) is public and free, while the State subsidises a proportion of private education.

Education and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) have passed some remarkable milestones in recent history. In the themed-20th century, the process of national industrialization sparked the creation of technical schools and led to widespread free vocational training (VT). In the 1990s, the economic crisis and the lack of investment in TVET weakened the above-mentioned options. After the economic reactivation of 2003, more favourable conditions were established in order to encourage the revitalization of TVET in addition to promoting active employment policies and second chance programmes.

International financing for VT policies during the period studied was specifically awarded to the Ministry of Labour. The Continuing Vocational Training Programme and the Youth Programme for More and Better Work (Programa Jovenes con Más y Mejor Trabajo) were established. At the same time, strong national investment in technical education (TE) took place, coordinated by the national Ministry of Education and implemented by provincial governments. Secondary and tertiary level technical education was, like initial vocational training, financed with public funds from the national treasury without support from international cooperation. Both ministries – Labour and Education - were working in the field of vocational training with different budgets and approaches.

There is a big difference between the two ministries’ conceptions of vocational training. While the Education Ministry at the provincial level provides for regular initial vocational training, the Labour Ministry’s policies provide courses which operate within the framework of agreements between different economic sectors (including companies, unions and the State). The points of tension between the two ministries concern key issues including the organization of vocational training, its administration, the type of certification provided (educational certificate or training certificate) and the organization of the curriculum

4. The lack of consensus between the Ministries has led to parallel services.

The main actors in this network were and continue to be based on the unions. In particular, the big unions participate simultaneously in activities financed by both the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labour. This is especially evident at the local level: the public centres for vocational training, which report to the provinces, provide initial vocational training, financed by the Ministry of Education, and short vocational courses, financed by the Ministry of Labour within the framework of agreements with the economic sectors. In this way, they take advantage of the different resources available to extend the scale of their services through partnerships with the various actors.


4.1.2. The role of international cooperation in skills development

Since the 1990s, loans from multilateral banks have accounted for the largest proportion of international cooperation (IC), and these funds have gone mainly to key sectors such as basic education (Ministry of Education), the fight against poverty (ministries of social affairs and/or labour), and labour training for poor, young, unemployed people (ministries of labour).

After 2003, and in line with new trends in IC, the national strategy in public social and education policies was to favour a global impact in the areas of sustainable development and poverty reduction. Training policies tended to emphasize a systemic approach, lifelong learning and ensuring the quality of institutions. The main characteristics of the actions taken are the following (Jacinto y Lasida, 2009):

• Holistic approach to training for work - support for a specific sector and for the training system as a whole. A central feature is the dialogue between public and private actors, not only in training for employment but also in other sectors (health, local development, etc.), and/or the development of legal frameworks for training for work.

• Emphasis on the sustainability of strategies and on the need, from the very outset, for public policies to be sustainable. This involves incorporating other sources of funding as well as other strategies.

• Development and strengthening of institutions. Since the 2000s, employment policies have promoted the utilization of institutional quality improvement models for training centers and methodologies of evaluation based on standardized criteria.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has historically been the main multilateral partner, with annual support for all sectors averaging US$1.36 billion in recent years. The Multilateral Investment Fund of the IDB group promotes the participation of communities and NGOs in the formulation and implementation of programmes financed by the national Government. In recent years it has moved towards an “associated management” programme model, which contributes to social cohesion. One relevant example of this approach is the NGO Sustentabilidad, Educación, Solidaridad (SES) Foundation in Buenos Aires. The World Bank (WB) involvement extends to a wide array of projects in agriculture, health, education, infrastructure and labour. The country currently has a portfolio of 37 projects totalling US$7.36 billion in loans.

The Continuing Vocational Training Programme started in 2007. It is focused on the educational deficien-cies and vocational training of active employees, and its aim is to reach 600,000 people per year. To reach its objectives, the Programme seeks to improve quality in the vocational training system and assist people with the completion of their primary or secondary education cycle (Catalano, 2008). The Programme has a competency-based approach based on linkage with the unions in several sectors. In fact, competency-based training has filtered down into most modern initial-level vocational training. It is used in the formal sector of the economy. The horizons for the recognition and certification of prior learning are not so well defined, but sectors such as the construction sector have made advances in this field.

Concerning specifically the promotion of training and labour inclusion mechanisms for young people, the Youth Programme for More and Better Work was created in 2007 and continues to this day. This Programme is aimed at unemployed youngsters between the ages of 18 and 24 who have not completed secondary school and find it difficult to gain access to the formal labour market. A new WB US$425 million project called Progresar set up in 2014, seeks to promote quality job opportunities for 540,000 young adults living in vulnerable socio-economic conditions. It is focusing (until 2019) on three areas: improving the quality of guidance and training services, consolidating the coverage of the Programme of Youth for More and Better Work, and strengthening the performance of the network of employment offices around the country by supporting the Ministry of Labour in 360 municipalities.

The two aforementioned training programmes targeted at young people are managed by the local municipalities and the local labour and employment agencies that report to the National Ministry of Labour.


Some studies about the implementation of these policies show many problems and tensions between the various participating social actors. The tensions concern the partnerships between municipalities, employment agencies, NGOs, training centers and enterprises; the youth profiles and their difficulties in finishing the training courses; the profiles and payment of the youth tutors; etc.

Very few evaluations of these programmes have been conducted. The only valuable one concerns the Continuing Vocational Training Programme. The main finding holds that men up to the age of 24 years who have completed primary but not secondary level education, who do not have formal experience, and who have participated in VT courses, have an insertion probability of 17%. On the other hand, where these men have completed secondary-level education, have previously accessed formal employment and have participated in a training course, their insertion rate rises to 45% (increasing by 2.6 times their chance of accessing formal employment). No evaluations of other programmes are available, only monitoring reports containing the number of trained people and their profiles.

4.2. Youth employment and policies

4.2.1. Youth employment

Young people between 15 and 24 years of age represent 17% of the total population. All the same, the youth group’s vulnerability and disadvantages are significant.

The clear improvements to educational access made in the period 2003-2013, both at the secondary level and the higher level, was facilitated by the compulsory nature of secondary school attendance and other policies aimed at assisting the completion of the secondary level.

Table 14: Pupils in regular and technical secondary education, youth and adult education, and vocational training, 2007-2012

Education Sector

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Increase 2007-2012

Regular secondary school

2,935,464 2,970,673 3,054,489 3,096,387 3,140,945 3,219,027 9.70%

Technical secondary school

536,274 552,459 564,742 583,241 590,263 594,518 10.90%

Secondary school for young people and adults

422,455 430,595 475,943 522,289 536,571 519,140 22.90%

Vocational training 239,385 258,202 275,395 286,785 287,713 303,782 26.90% Source: Own table based on National Ministry of Education, DINIECE, annual data collection (2007 to 2012), and INET, Information unit, Federal Register of Technical Professional Educational Institutions (RFIETP).

Unemployment among youths is triple that among adults, reaching almost 20%. Furthermore, a high proportion of young workers (45%) are employed informally.

The first barrier to decent employment access is incomplete secondary-level education. Around 40% of youths do not complete their secondary school. Likewise, even now, technical-professional training reaches a low proportion of students (17%), despite the promotion it has received in recent years. The second barrier is social inequality. Attendance at secondary and higher level increases among the higher-income economic quintiles. Even when secondary level is completed, young people coming from lower-income households find access to decent employment difficult. A third barrier is gender. Women’s unemployment rates are higher, as are their chances of being informally employed. The gender gap is even wider for young


people living in rural areas.

Figure 8: Unemployment rate evolution by gender and age group, 2003-2011, Argentina

Source: SEDLAC (CEDLAS and the World Bank), 2003 and 2011

Apart from high unemployment rates, labour indicators also reveal a large proportion of young workers employed in informal jobs (meaning that workers do not have the right to a pension when retired), though, in general terms, this indicator shows improvement in recent years.

Figure 9: Percentage of salaried youth (from 15 to 24 years old) and salaried adults (from 25 to 64 years old) with informal jobs, 2003 and 2011

Source: SEDLAC (CEDLAS and the World Bank), 2003 and 2011

Youths considered to be in a vulnerable position are those who are neither studying nor economically active. The percentage of NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training) in the sector of the population aged between 15 and 24 years is 12% (rising to 17% if we also count the unemployed). Of these, most are women and a disproportionately high number come from homes with a low socioeconomic status.

Most of the NEET are women. 60% of young people who neither study nor work are women, while 40% are men. This is probably a consequence of women having children (which might even be considered as another additional element of the vulnerability condition). A high percentage of these women are mothers of children less than 4 years old; most of them are poor and have not graduated from secondary school


(CIPPEC, 2013). Likewise, the NEET percentage increases among youths coming from low-education environment households

5 (see Figure 10 below).

Figure 10: Percentage of NEETs by education environment of the household, 2011, Argentina

Source: IIPE-UNESCO/ OEI based on EPH, 2011 4.2.2. Youth policies

4.2.2. Youth policies

The changes made to economic policy starting in 2003 were accompanied by changes in TVET policies with regard to social protection. This process influenced the design and implementation of sectorial policies, in particular regarding the interactions between education, training and employment policies. Some central shifts include the passage from a subsidiary State to a new social protection-oriented State; from the institutional status of job training as a “market” to job training as a component of the TVET; from a perspective stressing “the training needs” to another stressing “the rights”.

Completion of the secondary level has been promoted through mainstream education or through alternative paths (Youths and Adults Education). The policies assume that the best way to boost access to decent work, defined in the ILO’s terms is to achieve higher levels of education among the population.

Regarding TVET policies, a comprehensive amendment has been introduced by a new regulating law, accompanied by the creation of the National Fund for Technical Education. On one hand, internships and vocational practicums

6 have become compulsory within technical secondary education. On the other hand,

the new regulations have strengthened vocational training, the provision of which exists in two parallel forms. The Ministry of Education supports the initial vocational training while the Ministry of Labour provides financial backing to courses in the context of the National Continuing Training System. These courses may be taught in the same centres as those of the Ministry of Education or in any other place, but they are shorter, more specific and more linked to skill profiles. It is worth mentioning that, although some initiatives have been proposed by the provinces, Argentina does not have a national qualification system. And the establishment of one is not under discussion at national level because there is no basic consensus between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labour. Unions and employers tend to agree with the Ministry of Labour, at least with regard to vocational training. Unions and employers’ associations tend to agree with the competency-based approach.

Turning to youth employment policies, an important one already mentioned, the Youth Programme for More and Better Work, was established in 2008 by the Ministry of Labour. It was conceived as a set of combinations of mainstream education, informal education and work experience, including vocational guidance and life skills. Local employment agencies receive young people and direct them towards different services, taking their profile as a starting point. The services include advice and support for: creating a


professional profile, finishing compulsory education, completing training and qualification exercices in work environments, and initiating a productive activity in an independent manner or through employment.

Table 15: Youth programmes, 2014

Programme Operational definitionRegular Secondary School The National Law of Education No. 26,206/06 establishes

compulsory education until secondary school level i.e. the completion of a cycle of 13 or 14 years of compulsory schooling between the ages of 5 and 17/18 depending on the educational stream and province.

Youth and Adult Education Youth and Adult Education is the educational stream aimed at guaranteeing literacy and compliance with compulsory schooling for those who have not completed it in due course, and to provide possibilities for lifelong learning. The minimum age is 15, depending on the educational stream.

National Plan for Second Chance Programmes for Primary and Secondary levels

Second chance programme for primary and secondary levels, aimed at young people and adults over 18.

Internships in Secondary Schools Decree No. 1374 establishes the General Regime of Internships for pupils of between 16 and 18 years of age in the last two years of secondary school. In the case of technical schools, the National Law of Technical and Vocational Education (No. 26058/05) provides for compulsory vocational practicums in the last year of this educational stream.

Technical secondary education National Law 26.058 of 2005 established both the objectives and organization of technical secondary education both in the public and private spheres. The National Fund for Technical Education was created to guarantee technical education financing.

Vocational Training A different type of work training (generally aimed at specific professions) which mostly requires only a primary school certificate and a minimum age of 16.

Youth Programme for More and Better Work

Programme for social and work inclusion for unemployed youngsters (18 to 24 years of age)who have not completed the level required by compulsory formal education.

Source: Own table based on policy documents, 2014

Figure 11 below shows interesting connections between education and labour policies created in recent years. Notwithstanding the progress made, many challenges still lie in the path of developing a system for education and training that can successfully achieve social and work inclusion for youths.


Figure 11: The education system’s links with Ministry of Labour resources and programmes

Source: Own creation. (In green, educational supply; in red, training and employment policies addressed at the youth, in blue, social programmes related to TVET policies)

Firstly, it is important to highlight that historical institutional weaknesses, both in infrastructure as well as in management, pose the most significant difficulty. Even though many efforts have been made in terms of resources and actions, improving the quality of the system remains a long, ongoing process.

Secondly, initiatives to ensure a high-quality first work experience for vulnerable youths have attracted little interest from the business world. There is a significant gap between the profiles of the youths who are awarded preference by companies in the formal economic sector, and those of the young people who are covered by vocational training programmes (in terms of their formal education levels, competences, places of residence, etc.). Thirdly, not all the programmes deliver the provision of quality employment to the young people. The approaches designed to address youth entrepreneurship, especially through programmes aimed at poor youths, still contain many simplifications, such as thinking that a start-up fund is all that is required, or that youngsters without any work experience can run their own business.

Fourthly, although youth employment programmes place high importance on guidance and on linking the youngsters to education and training, they are usually aimed at young people from low social backgrounds who face the greatest difficulties in securing decent jobs. They are relevant, but they are not enough. In contrast, the programs that offer internships or support to find jobs in the quality formal market are aimed at youths in relatively better conditions.

4.2.3. Youth employment, youth policies and TVET in two employment sectors: construction and wine production

This section sets out the results of the studies in the two chosen sectors: construction and wine production.

a) Construction

This is an important sector because youngsters represent a very significant group among construction


workers. At the same time, the sector is relevant in relation to chances of employment among the under 24s. It receives a large number of youngsters who begin at a young age. Nevertheless, youngsters tend to be employed in informal conditions and generally for temporary periods. This is a typical aspect of this sector: although there is a noticeable dynamism in terms of job creation and the economic importance of this branch of the national economy, construction employs mainly men from low socio-economic sectors with low levels of formal education. A very high percentage of workers are employed under informal labour conditions (67%).

As a result, young employees usually have low levels of education and come from low-income homes. They reach jobs through family networks and also through private and union job centres. They do not require high qualifications for these jobs. The high turnover of workers in the sector causes weakness in the inter-generational transmission of specific knowledge in the area.

The educational system offers training specializing in construction at tertiary institutes, secondary schools (mainly technical but regular too) and in vocational training institutions. For example, nearly 20% of the pupils who attend vocational training take courses linked to this sector. Others receive the training offered by job promotion programmes. Graduates of technical schools are highly regarded in the sector, occupying posts that require intermediate qualifications. The main part of the young workers’ training is received on the job. There is poor linkage between the educational institutions geared towards the sector and the construction companies. This situation harms the students’ training and hinders their work inser-tion.

It is important to highlight that a relevant actor, in vocational training specifically, is the sector worker’s union. This union sets up links which contribute to keeping training up to date and facilitating inclusion in the sector. Some technical secondary schools geared towards construction offer students the opportunity to develop vocational practicums within the companies of the sector. The institutional links derived from the implementation of vocational practicums mainly contribute towards strengthening the students’ training (involving them in a work experience in a real work space) and offering them knowledge that they will use in future jobs. Nevertheless, it is difficult to obtain places for interns due to the requirements in terms of labour safety and effective insertion in these enterprises is not so frequent once the practicum is finished.

Young people between 15 and 24 years of age represent 17% of the total in permaculture work cooperatives. This is a small but growing area of the construction sector. The young people trained in this specific method of construction can get jobs afterwards through entrepreneurship programmes, professional practicums in NGOs and private residences, but they hardly ever get into the formal market.

b) Wine production

Wine production is one of the most dynamic sectors in terms of economic importance in the Province of Mendoza. It contributes to more than 30% of the total employment of the province with the particular characteristics of a highly seasonal activity. That is why it is an important sector for youngsters’ access to employment. Nevertheless, the types of jobs and their trajectories are linked to the characteristics of their homes of origin through the educational level. The youngsters with low educational levels have lower quality jobs, as well as temporary jobs e.g. as farm workers and winery operators in establishments near their homes. The informal mechanisms of learning impact greatly on their trajectories. The youngsters with a higher level of education hold more formal, stable and qualified jobs. They have continuing trajectories in the educational system, in courses directly linked to the wine production process (oenology, agriculture) or in ones that can be applied to this field (administration, marketing, languages, tourism, etc.).

The sector has passed from a “productivist” model in the 80’s to one of “quality” in production, characterised by a marked difference between products, and by the introduction of new technologies, with new skills requirements. However, the incorporation of new knowledge varies according to the size and


importance of the firm. Heterogeneity characterizes wine production, with great differences between the small producers, who occupy a subordinate place in the sector, and the medium and large companies that lead the activity. This has made a strong impact on work training in the last decade.

In light of this, there is a tradition of training for top-level posts through public and private universities and private managing consultancies, as well as a variety of training aimed at middle-level posts, including through foundations and consultancies. As for training aimed at the remaining levels of qualification of workers and operators, a system reaching all workers has not yet been put in place. Inter-generational family transmission and on-the-job learning seem to be the main mechanisms for most youngsters who hold this type of job. Both workers and unions have been largely excluded from participating in the planning of training, and from work policies in general. In addition, vocational training is still a secondary and undervalued pathway in the wine production sector despite the great effort registered in terms of resources.

The disconnection between the State and the private sector has been repaired and training has taken many new forms. The policies of the wine production sector implemented by the Institute of Rural Development are a case in point. The re-connection can also be seen in the interaction between education, vocational training and employment, carried out by the National Youth Employment Programme, since agreements with the wineries have been reached. In addition, local organizations of producers have played an important role in the planning of training possibilities based on a strategic vision of sectorial development.

Nevertheless, greater efforts are needed to reach many small producers, particularly those in remote areas which suffer from a lack of insertion in the most dynamic and powerful networks of the production chain. The smallest producers are still the most disadvantaged sector in many respects, including in terms of training. Structural restrictions impact on the way training is accepted, for example, the processes of concentration of production, the tendency towards the concentration of administration, and the possession of land by the big producers or wineries which demonstrate oligopoly practices. Efforts to transform the approaches of policies in wine production also face broader historical structural inequalities which make generating quality employment for young people difficult.

4.3. Skills development, people, policies and institutions: where is social justice?

Tables 16, 17, 18 and 19 address the following questions concerning skills development and youth deployment in Argentina from a social justice perspective:

• What is the nature of the work young obtain and where does this work come from?

• What are the policies and practices for skills development and deployment that contribute to access or serve as barriers for youth?

• What is the social dimension of work and skills development in the country?


Table 16: Main characteristics of the sectors


What is the economic importance of each sector?

The wine production sector represented around 6% of the Mendoza GDP in 2013 and is one of the most thriving activities in terms of both products and employment. Mendoza accounts for approximately 4% of GDP. It is the “nucleus of the national wine production” with 71% of its surface used for grapevines, 65% of the vineyards and 78.6% of the wine production in Argentina.

The construction sector is a very important branch of the national economy (9% of employment) presenting heterogeneous characteristics, depending on the size of the company and its formality. The evolution of the total GDP in relation to the GDP of the construction sector shows the close link between the sector and the general trend of the economy.

What does each sector contribute to employment?

Wine production contributes more than 30% of the total employment of the province, with the particular characteristics of a highly seasonal activity.

Those employed in construction represented 8.9% in 2012. Youngsters represent around 34% of the employed in the sector; the sector is also relevant in employment generated among the under 24s.

Did the sector experience changes in the years 2003-2014?

Between 2004 and 2013, the income of the wine production sector grew by 2.5 times. In a more diversified economic structure, the contribution of wine production has decreased by a little over 2% in the last ten years. The introduction of new technology in the wineries meant necessary investment in training, and the reorganization of wine production employees. A marked decrease in the demand for work force in wineries and farms was registered.

From 2003 the share of construction in GDP grew until 2007 (from 3.6% to 6.3%), then stopped, and decreased from 2008. State-sector involvement played a central role in the dynamization of the sector. This dynamism was based on the relatively low costs of materials and labour in comparison to property prices. From 2008 a standstill and backward movement was registered.

Table 17: People


What are the types of jobs for youth?

Youngsters with low educational levels have lower quality, temporary jobs. The informal mechanisms of learning impact greatly on their trajectories. Youngsters with a higher level of education hold more formal, stable and qualified jobs e.g. as tour guides, laboratory assistants, enologists or managers in administration, logistics, exports or marketing.

In the construction sector youngsters tend to be employed in informal conditions and generally for temporary periods. Young employees usually have low levels of education and come from low income homes. They obtain jobs through family networks. Generally training takes place on the job.


By whom and where are the jobs for youth offered?

The types of jobs offered to youngsters vary according to the heterogeneity of the sector. The best quality jobs are for wine production technicians, or in administration, marketing, tourism, etc.).

The sector is heterogeneous in relation to production due to the diversity of the productive units operating. Only 3 out of every 10 employees in the sector carry out activities as formal workers, are covered by pension contributions in the social system, have health insurance and can receive unemployment benefit between the end of one building and the beginning of another.

What are the structural barriers? Mainly concern the youngster’s home background as well as their level of education.

Even though important action has been taken to fight unregistered work, informality is another structural barrier that is very high.

The barriers are linked to the characteristics of jobs in the sector - informal conditions and temporary contracts. The organization of work based on subsidiaries reinforces the informality. Also to low levels of qualification. Half of the workforce work in self-employment.

What is the gender dimension? For tasks that require physical exertion, men are employed, and for those with manual dexterity and customer service needs women are employed.

The sector employs mainly men who have a low socio-economic status. Few women have the opportunity to be trained and to access construction jobs.

What are the other aspects of inequality?

Segmentation of the workforce; labour flexibility; multi-functioning and multi-tasking; an increase in the training and specialization of the workers; outsourcing in selection and hiring.

The unskilled workers usually enter the sector through family networks, while those with better qualifications can enter through job searches in the mass media. The high turn-over of workers in the sector weakens the inter-generational transmission of specific knowledge.

Table 18: Policies

Issues IndustriesWine Construction

Policies in skills development The policies are carried out, in the sector level, through, for example, the Rural Development Institute. In addition, there is interaction between education, vocational training and the second chance programmes through specific agreements with the wineries. Both initiatives follow a model of training, general or specific, linked to second chance graduation programmes.

The education system offers training specializing in construction, both at secondary school level and in vocational training.Apart from this, skills development policies at a national level have contributed to reinforcing vocational and educational training as well as their linkages with second chance graduation programmes, and education for young people and adults.


Policies in employment Policies for employment are also conceived at a national level. The Youth Project for More and Better Work courses act as a direct bridge with formal work when linked to the municipal employment offices; when linked to the Argentine Wine Cellars (Bodegas de Argentina) they provide a bridge to the leading sector of wine production. At the same time, work tools are distributed to encourage independent activity in self-employment.

The training available in construction is complemented by the training offered by job promotion programmes. The Youth Project for More and Better Work courses are developed in vocational training centres linked to the construction sector. Local employment offices also distribute work tools in these centres that encourage independent activity. Policies in employment are commonly negotiated with chambers of commerce and unions.

Conceptual design for implementation

Broad conceptions of the world of work and on the rights of young workers are reflected in all these policies. Nevertheless, the vocational training is still a secondary and undervalued pathway.

When training is carried out through companies’ organizations, they promote a view based on productivity.

The conceptual design reflects shifting national policies, conceiving job training as a component of the education and technical- vocational training system. The designs are developed at the sectorial level, where vocational training centres and technical secondary schools carry out their training programmes.

Impact of policies There are multiple examples of management linking the public and private sectors even if there are still problems of coordination and linkage

In terms of access to employment, access to training doesn’t guarantee an improvement in working conditions or an immediate improvement in salaries either.

Institutional linkages at local level contribute to broaden opportunities for youngsters. Sometimes construction companies choose graduates through the mediation of the Municipalities. Companies that produce construction materials train pupils and teachers at the VT centres. The students in VT centres can apply for subsidies to start small ventures through with the local employment office. Some companies offer internships to schools.


Table 19: Institutions

Issues IndustriesWine Construction

Promotion of inclusion and access to institutions

Local organizations of producers have played an important role in the planning of a supply of training based on a strategic vision of sectorial development. However, they must involve both small producers and workers in order to obtain a stronger local perspective.

Access to institutions is free.

The construction union and chambers of commerce have played an important role in promoting and reinforcing technical and vocational training linked to the construction sector. In this sense, many employed and unemployed workers in the sector have successfully completed some type of training course. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that unskilled workers still obtain jobs with no training.

Strategies for skills development in the institutions of each sector

Interaction with State and private actors is the main strategy for offering skills development. This is carried out by vocational training centres, technical secondary schools and the wineries themselves. All of these forms of training may be linked to educational and employment policies (mainly second chance graduation programmes and job promotion developed by local employment offices).

Nevertheless, skills development in this sector is still an undervalued pathway despite the great effort registered in terms of resources.

The construction union and chambers of commerce have played an important role in promoting and reinforcing technical and vocational training linked to the construction sector. In this sense, many employed and unemployed workers in the sector have successfully completed some type of training course. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that unskilled workers still obtain jobs with no training.

The interaction between institutional actors is the main strategy for offering skills development. A relevant actor in vocational training in the construction sector is the UOCRA Foundation (UF) which belongs to the workers’ union in the sector. The UF sets up links which contribute to keeping the training contents updated and facilitating jobs inclusion in the sector. Technical schools have developed professional practicums and internships in order for youths to gain experience in real work environments.


4.4. Conclusions

The economic reactivation between 2003 and 2012 was supported by a beneficial international situation with regard to the price of commodities, and also reinforced by social and labour inclusion policies. But economic growth slowed down. Many authors point out that the reasons for this are related to the fact that, although the economy registered some growth, there was limited industrial growth after the exit from the convertibility regime; the productive profile was not modified in structure and nor were the characteristics of Argentina’s insertion in the worldwide market. They also stress that an intense process of concentration and foreignization of the economy, which was first observed during the 90’s, became deeper and consolidated during the 2000’s, and that the inflationary process is related to this process. As a consequence, there was a growth period but no development, given that the same productive basis and type of insertion in the worldwide market were maintained. Within this framework, youth employment continues to face persistent problems, such as the high percentage of informal work.

The number of transitions and biographical paths followed by young people would seem to point towards designing mechanisms that take them into account both collectively and individually, and not only through the policies mentioned. Indeed, the “constellation of disadvantages” are built starting from factors related to the family (family responsibilities at a young age, gender issues, urgent need to get an income, the “absence” of the family, a weak social relations network), the school (low quality of supply, lack of coaching), the geographical location (segregation, ecological marginalization, scarce and poor access to health services), company selection strategies (devalued diplomas, stigmatization, discrimination, etc.). Social and labour segmentation pervades the channels of access to good jobs.

Since there is not enough decent employment, the capacity of the policies and programmes to impact on young people’s access to quality salaried jobs is scarce. Supporting youth enterprises seems to essentially be a way out of job scarcity. But in the case of those young people with low formal education levels, they have no previous work experience, they are not well enough advised or their initial subsidies are not based on adequate regulations fostering the continuity of enterprises or enabling links to wider value chains. From a different perspective, some programmes have stressed the importance of fostering a personal and social development strategy based on partnership and cooperation, and on using people’s capacities and creativity, both individually and collectively, aiming at a development policy where actors themselves are mobilized. Even though interesting experiences may be found in some cases, processes are not without difficulties.

The two sectors studied confirm these general conclusions. Efforts to strengthen the interaction between education (mainstream and youth and adult education), vocational training and employment have been seen. These efforts concern the national and provincial policies and the sectors. These initiatives involve also training, either general or specific, linked to the recognition that education is a right. But in both sectors, the informality and insecurity of the jobs that the young people mainly hold do not affect the whole occupational structure or all the youngsters in the same way. More in-depth analyses on the relationship between the characteristics of jobs and the dynamics of accumulation in these sectors should be carried out in order to overcome the reductionist views of youngsters and work that still persist.

In both sectors, the expansion of TVET policies still faces many limitations and contradictions. Because of the labour conditions and the characteristics of the sector, institutional links between public- and private-sector actors seem insufficient for reducing the barriers to decent employment that youngsters encounter. The removal of these barriers is an indispensible step towards a system where the mechanisms of access to training are open and clear for all the actors, while progress is made towards linking the aforementioned training to improvements in working conditions.

In sum, changes are generally related to the social protection or social justice approaches. Some central shifts include the passage from a subsidiary State to a new social protection-oriented State; from the


institutional status of job training as a “market” to job training as a component of the education and technical- vocational training system; from a perspective stressing “the training needs” to another stressing “the rights”. But even though there were, in the period studied, policy lineaments seeking to improve structural conditions and sectorial and inter-sectorial policies designed to improve TVET, views that individualise the problem and structural educational and employment segmentations persist.

5. Comparing Argentina and South Africa?We have not managed to go very far in examining our comparative perspectives, but here we identify a

few seemingly glaring points of comparison between the two countries as a conclusion to this study.

Table 20: Comparison between South Africa and Argentina

South Africa Argentina

1. Country characteristicsThe population is larger than Argentina’s by 14 million people. Its population has a larger youth population, with those aged below 35 years comprising 66.9% of the population

Argentina’s population is 40 million people. 17% are young people between 15 to 24 years old.

2. InequalitiesSouth Africa’s past is steeped in inequality and the present government has not made a significant indent on the inequalities that existed before 1994. Comparatively, South Africa is one of the most unequal societies. The lower economic ladder is still populated by Africans and Coloureds and the young people from these communities are having the most difficulties in accessing opportunities that will allow them to get out of misery.

Argentina is a country divided along economic lines. There seems to be an underbelly of the population who are at the margins of economic participation and it can be expected that young people from these communities will find it even harder to access opportunities for skills development and employment. The Gini coefficient puts Argentina in 48th place in the world.

3. Urban / Rural divideSouth Africa still has a large population residing in rural areas (± 45%) and traditionally rural inhabitants do not receive as good services as their urban counterparts. Therefore the rural youth can be said to be the most disadvantaged youth in the country, as they are very far removed from training opportunities and jobs.

Argentina’s rural population seems to be very small in comparison to the South African (± 13%). This reduces the chances of marginality as most individuals are not very far from the prized resources of skills development and jobs.

4. Youth unemployment ratesSouth Africa has very high youth unemployment – youth comprise about 70% of the unemployed. Again, the unemployment is highly concentrated in the African and Coloured population.

Youth unemployment is three times as high as that among adults. In spite of the employment reactivation and economic growth sustained by Argentina over recent years, youth unemployment is still very high and reached almost 20% in 2011. It also increased among the poor population.


5. Post-school and Skills Development opportunitiesEven though the numbers participating in post-school education and training have more than tripled, in real terms there are still more young people Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET). In spite of the focus that has been paid to the skills development processes in the past two decades, the country has not expanded or increased its skills development facilities to make access easier for all. Instead, the various restructuring processes have decreased these opportunities. Also, there is not enough funding for post-school education to meet the needs of the country. Although private provision exists, these providers are not supported through the funds collected by the Government for training.

There seems to be a very wide variety of skills development opportunities in Argentina for different youth groups. The public supply of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is free. The VT centres are all around the country. TVET is also driven by many private providers. Argentina also provides for free tertiary education, making this commodity much more easily accessible to the poor.

6. Basic EducationSouth Africa is aspiring to a universal 12 years of schooling. The country has made significant achievements in this regard, but the last three years of schooling are still proving to be a source of major challenges. In addition, there are no significant second chance opportunities for youth to complete their schooling.

Argentina seems to be more advanced in getting its youth to complete the 12 years of schooling. In addition, there are a number of interventions aimed at providing young people and adults with second chance opportunities.

7. Social WelfareSouth Africa started from zero to provide a safety net to poor families twenty-one years ago. This has helped many indigent young people significantly, but the amount given is very small and does not cover the needs adequately. In addition, this is still a stand-alone intervention which is not connected to other interventions in the lives of these young people, especially skills development.

In the last decade, significant changes in the approaches to social protection and development have been made. This process influenced the design and implementation of sectorial policies, in particular regarding the interactions between education, vocational training and employment.

Changes related to social protection transformed TVET. The strengthening of the role of the State in building social solidarity/citizenship was strongly supported and the welfare policies promoted the universalization of social protection, including:cash transfer programmes (the so-called universal allowance per child, aimed at protecting the right to education and basic healthcare of minors up to 18 years old, children of workers, informal/ unemployed/ housekeeping workers and pregnant women as from the 3rd month of pregnancy).• unemployment benefits, and universal pension plans for citizens older than 65.• programmes of active employment and social economy promotion.• extension of the educational offer and compulsory secondary education.• labour policies aimed at the right to decent employment, excluding most of the previous types of non-permanent contracts.


8. Intermediaries and bureaucracy in trainingSouth Africa has created a lot of bureaucracy in its skills development milieu. One helpful aspect of this is the levy funding, which would never be available if it was not legislated. However, its effectiveness has not yet been established. The other intermediaries have not contributed much to increasing the availability of training to youth.

.Although the country does not have a levy, a percentage of GPD is assigned to TVET since a law was passed in 2005. However, there are no assessments of the way in which these funds have improved the quality of the supply. Regarding VT, there are not many evaluations and follow-ups available to assess their impact.

9. Unions and Skills developmentSouth African large unions have not been involved in training in a meaningful way. The unions are still survivalist in their approach. Union involvement tends to concentrate on basic conditions of employment rather than on skills development, and it can be said that this comes more from preservation of segregation policies than taking care of specific members’ needs. This lack of involvement sometimes makes it difficult for the unions to empathise with the problem of youth unemployment.

The involvement of unions in construction skills development is very admirable. Some other strong unions related to industry and also to services have been involved in VT in recent years, supported by the national policies.

10. Public Sector involvement in trainingThe South African Government is on one hand heavily involved in training in the country. It is involved insofar as it is forever preoccupied with regulating and introducing new approaches to training. This often results in a weakened sector, as too many changes are introduced too often. On the other hand, the public sector is distantly involved in producing skills and employment. The public sector does not seem to see itself as a significant employer who should be very involved in skills development and deployment.

The government is very involved in TVET policies, funding and orienting them with other stakeholders, such as the big unions. Some skills development policies have received support from international cooperation.

11. Industry TrainingIndustry training is not as common as espoused in skills development policies. Where it happens, it seems to be done reluctantly. Overall, industry sees training as a cost instead of an investment.

It also seems that industry involvement is not widespread in the same way as that of the unions, but there are a lot of training initiatives where unions and industry work in partnership.

12. Stimulating the Demand for SkillsThe country spends most of its efforts and resources on the supply of skills. Conversations about stimulating the demand for skills tend not to proceed very quickly.

Stimulating the demand for skills is on the agenda of some projects but not in a major way.


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7. End Notes1 For an explanation of how this term is used, see http://www.metamute.org/editorial/articles/

precarious-precarisation-precariat2 Not in Employment, Education or Training.3 These numbers are for public institutions only as there is no reliable data for private institutions.

However, public institutions carry a major proportion of all students in post-school education.4 For example, the Ministry of Education proposed “vocational families” whose job titles are based on

training levels. The Ministry of Labour proposed a curricular design involving short courses of modules, based very much on demand.

5 The education environment of the household is defined as the average number of years of education of the adult members. This variable is used as a proxy for the socioeconomic status. A low-education environment household implies less than six years of education of adults members, medium between 6 and 12 years, and high more than 12 years.

6 Prácticas profesionalizantes: a type of non-remunerated internship for educational purposes.

Annex: Research Techniques, Sources and IndicatorsSpecific techniques, sources and indicators were used for each objective.

Specific objective 1: Country context

The research techniques related to the first objective included the analysis of quantitative secondary data on each country context to understand the social, educational and labour backgrounds.

Certain indicators were chosen for the comparative perspective:

• GDP and manpower breakdowns by sector

• Population size by age, gender and race

• Human Development Index on each country

• Life expectancy

• Literacy rates

• Immigration/mobility – policies and available data.

Specific objective 2: Youth employment

For the second objective, we have analysed quantitative secondary data and documentary analysis to define the state and conditions of youth employment in both countries (the national trends). Secondly, data was gathered from follow-up studies of young people who took part in training programmes in the framework of the two sectors of activity.

The research used available statistics on skills development and employment at national and regional level. In the case of Argentina, we resorted to historic records from the Permanent Survey on Households. In South Africa, data was derived from several statistics reports for the country, e.g. the 2007 Community Survey; the 2011 Census; and the Quarterly Labour Force Surveys between 2003 and 2012. The information collected in both countries was basic, focusing on the employment situation of young people (15-24 years old in Argentina and 15-24 and 15-34 years old in South Africa) and the labour market in general. We focused


on youngsters considered as disadvantaged (from specific geographical areas in South Africa and low educational capital families in Argentina). Special issues were addressed, such as the NEET situation (youngsters not in education, employment nor training), gender, race and geographic segregation. The information collected was related to the following indicators:

Youth StatisticsSouth Africa Argentina

GER –Gross Enrolment Rate by gender and province Net/Gross Enrolment Rate by genderDistribution of learners by phase Enrolment rate by quintile of household incomeCompletion rate –Grade 12 level Secondary completion rate within the economic active

population and within youth (18-24)Post-school education and training (with geographical mapping)

Enrolment in TVET (Technical Vocational Education and Training, vocational and technical high school, vocational training) (public and private)

Skills development programmes, adult education statistics

Enrolment in youth and adult education and youth programmesEmployment and unemployment in youthFormality and informality in youth

NEET statistics NEET rate

Specific objective 3: Public policies addressing youth, education, training and employment

We investigated the types and designs of public policies currently developed in South Africa and Argentina for youth/education/training/employment, questioning these interventions in youth employment.

Firstly, we contextualised both countries according to different issues: governance structures, general description of the educational system, economic transformations, welfare systems for youth and international cooperation in the programmes aimed at youth skills development.

Secondly, we carried out comparative analysis (within each national context) on conceptual approaches, orientations and policy implementation designs based on the socio-historical tendencies and on the linkages between opportunities for access to education, work training and work. Analytically, we started with the concept of “programmes’ rationale” developed previously (Jacinto, 2010). We classified the designs at play in the programmes according to the following criteria:

• The definition of the problem needing intervention – particularly, how problems of youth employment are diagnosed, the importance of national and local structural determinants, and what is attributed to the youngsters themselves and their educational, social characteristics, etc.

• Kinds of jobs aimed at. Basically, how the heterogeneity of youth employment opportunities are conceptualised and whether they are differentiated according to sectors of activity; what qualifies as “quality or decent work”; how generating self-employment and/or cooperative employment is valued by the youngsters; whether they face the segmented worlds of work with measures segmented in turn.

• The population groups at which the programmes are aimed and the definition of the “constellations of disadvantages” suffered by the youngsters concerned (Walther and Phol, 2005). We investigated how the policies propose to tackle the segmentation of educational services and the job market, and institutional fragmentation. We also examined how they deal with residential segregation, weakness in knowledge and basic skills, violated rights, gender issues, etc.

• The institutionality (in the micro-institutional sense) in which the proposed policies and methods of management are rooted. Basically, this leads to the role of secondary school, of regular vocational training centres and of other organizations or institutions that act as NGOs, companies and job agencies. We


considered whether they are permanent or short-lived institutions; whether they provide the conditions and resources to give a quality service; what conceptions of educational quality and their own world of work are reflected in their actions; and in what way they intend to link up with other actions (social organizations, unions, companies).

At all the levels mentioned previously, we enquired about the impact of international cooperation on these points by asking the individuals interviewed. Only at the national level was the support of international cooperation clearly felt by these public-sector workers. At the provincial and institutional levels, the impact of international cooperation remained unclear to the actors involved.

From the point of view of research techniques, we analysed official documents on the design, implementation and results of these policies, along with previous research. We also conducted semi-structured interviews with civil servants and other key informers (such as union representatives and companies) who had participated together with the State in the implementation of these policies. Some examples of policies and/or programme implementation were described in each country within the framework of this study objective.

Specific objective 4: Sectors of activity and the networks linking education, training and work

This specific objective was aimed at the analysis of institutions and work training programmes in the selected sectors of activity in which the classified policies are established (construction and wine production). The analytical perspective for approaching this objective was sectorial: we aimed to define the networks of education, training and deployment in both sectors in order to analyse the characteristics and interventions of the functioning training institutions. The perspective that we adopted here related to understanding the role of institutions within the framework of the links between different actors in the sector (companies, unions, training centres, schools) (Martín and Della Torre, 2012).

Firstly, within this framework, profiles were built of both sectors of activity based on the collection of documentary material. This focused on identifying the training programmes which function in these sectors, as well as the dynamics of interaction present among these programmes and with other institutional actors (companies and schools).

Secondly, we carried out in-depth interviews with key informants from selected work training programmes as well as with representatives of companies and other actors responsible for deployment in the sectors.

The sectors of activity

We identified the networks linking education, training and work insertion in the selected sectors of activity. We did this on the basis of specific, a comparative analysis of documentary material, and semi-structured interviews systematically integrating the information obtained.

The documentary materials collected included the results of academic research, company institutional evaluations, and reports from unions and training centres within each sector.

We have collected, in addition, available follow-up studies from youngsters who have taken work training courses oriented towards one of the selected sectors of activity. These one-off or recurrent studies are conducted by ministries of education as well as specific organisms such as unions, and can identify the youngsters’ work situation once the courses are finished in relation to their sector of activity, type of job, level of income, level of qualifications, occupational category, intensity of timetable, and so on.

Furthermore, we have carried out some semi-structured interviews with key informants in order to gain extra information about the sectors of activities and the networks within them between education, training


and work. Such information relates to the Government stakeholders involved in skills development policies and deployment, the trade union actors, and the certification agencies).

Institutions (in the networks linking education, training and work)

We have chosen different institutions to analyse their networks with education and work, and with public and private actors:

• Vocational training, forming a model with the participation of social actors (unions, companies); a location-specific model as well as a classroom-based model funded by the Ministry of Education.

• Technical education at secondary level: one of the pathways of secondary education that does not enable students to follow studies at the university level.

• Ad hoc programmes to support orientation and training for work, which cover measures to encourage the hiring of young people in companies, internships in companies and socio-labour guidance. They depend mostly on the Ministry of Labour.

• Education for Young People and Adults. Second chance education graduation programmes which offer vocational training.

• Work training programmes in secondary schools, such as internships and productive projects, including micro-ventures and entrepreneurship.

From the list above, we chose sector examples that could provide linkage between different types of programmes, for example vocational training, adult education, and ad hoc training for work, and carried out semi-structured interviews and focus groups with their representatives (coordinators, directors) as well as with other stakeholders involved with these programmes.

We investigated, through the interviews, the following aspects:

• The links between training and demand for diplomas, knowledge and competences in the work place;

• Institutional strategies related to intervention (subjective perspectives referring to the work inclusion of the population of pupils from the programmes, the development of general, technical and socio-labour competences, procedures, rules, organization methods);

• Differences in gender regarding training strategies in the programmes;

• Geographical/territorial links between training and employment.

As far as companies are concerned, we selected well-known companies in the sectors in each country, which had links with the programmes selected, in order to interview their Human Resources personnel. Among other aspects, we examined training strategies according to the organization of work within each sector and in particular: 1) work and employment conditions of the youngsters (especially ways of hiring); 2) ways of insertion and selection of new young workers; 3) requirements, qualifications and knowledge; 4) work socialization within the company; 5) the sector’s links with work and training programmes; and 6) intra-sector heterogeneity.

In South Africa, secondary information was gleaned from the following documents:

• Statistics South Africa publications

• Departments of Higher Education and Training, and Labour policies

• National Youth policies

• Department of Basic Education policies

• Construction Industry Development Board policies


• South African Wine Industry Statistics and strategies.

Interviews were conducted with key role players and stakeholders in the two industries. Skills development institutions and employers were given priority in these interviews. We did not seek to identify a separate ‘domain’ of methods, distinct from theory, in our work. The methodology draws on the theory, finds ways of extending the theory, and also contributes to necessary revisions of methodology.

Accessing the ‘field’ was not always a cut and dry straightforward process of setting up an appointment, making a telephone call or sending an email to ensure that the interviewees were available for the interview. We realised that we had to negotiate access and bypass institutional gatekeepers in some instances. Employers in South Africa are generally notorious for not allowing external researchers to interview them about their practices. We entered the wine industry research fully aware of the high profile 2012/13 worker strikes and community protests in the De Doorns and Overberg areas in the Western Cape, which had created a tense atmosphere between employers and employees. The result of this was that some interviewees viewed us with suspicion or doubt given the media hype that followed the wine industry strikes and numerous requests to employers from the media for interviews about labour conditions in the sector.

The construction industry interviews involved a smaller number of institutional visits but produced a diversity of findings in relation to resource availability. The public TVET College that we visited and in which we conducted interviews resembled a typical formal educational environment with classrooms, workshops and training facilities all well-resourced through government support. Other providers in the construction industry, such as Soweto Plumbing Academy, have smaller facilities but make do with those resources to train their students for the labour market and have to turn away greater numbers of applicants due to resource constraints. Another centre – Sol Tech – is a fully privately funded (fees and grants) entity of a trade union that predominantly represents white (Afrikaner) workers. It is well resourced, well organised and works on ‘real time’ systems as part of its training. Our fieldwork experience further exposes the racial inequalities of South African society.

As we have stated above, we adopted different strategies for the two sectors. In the wine industry, our sectorial research approach involved interviews with institutions involved with skills development. These institutions included industry bodies, research and technology organizations, experienced wine makers, wine farms, training academies and an agricultural college. In total we visited 10 institutions and interviewed 14 individuals. In the construction industry we visited 4 institutions. Our interviews became more focus groups at three of the institutions, while in one institution we were able to follow the structured interview approach. In addition, we interviewed the National Business Initiative (NBI), the Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA) and the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB).

Data analysis

We analysed the quantitative secondary data and documentary analysis to define the state and conditions of youth skills development and deployment. The interviews were coded using Atlas TI and this information together with the notes taken by the field workers was the major source for the qualitative part of the study.

Editors: Kathryn Rowan, Michel Carton

Design: David de Siebenthal

Layout: Aude Mellet

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Understanding Barriers to Research Report # 1 Accessing Skills … · 2017-05-08 · Foreword This Synthesis Report of the study Understanding Barriers to Accessing Skills Development